Gravity of Mars
by wolfe80
Summary: Veronica Mars was like a celestial body and he was helpless to ever resist her gravitational pull. Set Sophomore Year at Hearst. Post-series. Non movie-compliant.
1. Chapter 1

_I've been debating about posting this story or waiting until it's complete, but I really do miss everyone so much, so as a birthday present to myself I decided to post the first part of this today. I started this story thinking it may just be a quick one shot, but then decided I wanted to go a bit farther with it. It won't be as long as my other multi-chapter stories, though._

 _Comments and reviews are always appreciated! And as always, special thanks to Bondopoulos for always being such a fabulous beta and friend!_

 _Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas._

Logan heard a faint thumping rhythm as he approached the bar's front entrance. The bouncer, a big bulky man whom Logan recognized, gestured with a slight jerk of his head for Logan to proceed; he didn't need to see an ID. Logan gave him an acknowledging nod as he passed through the door, grimacing slightly as the wall of noise hit him once he stepped inside. _Why did I agree to this again?_

The bar was within walking distance of Hearst, which made it a very hot spot for college students as well as Neptune locals in that similar demographic. Another reason for its popularity was that they weren't overly diligent on monitoring for fake IDs. Logan had heard about Mr. Mars cracking down when he was temporarily running the sheriff's department, but things seemed to have lightened up again under Vinnie's watch.

Once he was far enough inside, Logan scanned the crowd for the familiar blonde head he was supposed to be meeting. Even though the bar was fairly crowded, Dick's height and boisterous personality usually made it easy to locate him even in a crowd. After a few minutes of looking, Logan noticed a couple of empty seats at the bar and decided he'd grab one of them while he continued watching for Dick to materialize. Logan hadn't really wanted to go out, even if it was a Friday, but Dick had guilted him into it since it had been Dick's birthday the day before and they hadn't seen much of each other lately. Several months ago, Dick had decided that the Grand was just too far away from Hearst and he was worried about all the potential partying opportunities he was missing out on, so he had moved in with a couple of guys from his fraternity who had rented a house right next to campus. Logan had also considered moving out of the Grand once Dick left, but he just hadn't found the motivation to do it yet. The perks of living in a hotel were certainly one of the reasons he stayed, but even those had started to lose their appeal in the last few months.

As Logan took a seat on one of the open bar stools, a bartender who looked as familiar as the bouncer out front asked if he could get Logan a drink. Logan nodded and asked for a Corona. Once the icy cold bottle was in his hand, Logan went back to scanning the crowd for Dick. His heart clenched slightly in his chest when instead of spotting Dick, his eyes landed on another familiar blonde.

Logan had come to the realization that his body seemed to have one of two reactions when it came to seeing Veronica. Back when they were still together, that reaction had been an overwhelming feeling that he was the luckiest guy in the world to have her in his life. The other reaction, unfortunately, was pretty much the polar opposite; a painful gut-wrenching revelation that he hadn't been good enough to keep her. The first time he remembered having that acute reaction was the day he'd watched her ignore his call in the student union, although, if he were being honest, it probably went back even farther than that.

It didn't take long for Logan to realize that Veronica was not acting like her usual self, and he immediately wondered what sort of case she was there for. Even from a distance, it was easy for him to tell that she was acting bubbly and tipsy, and he wondered what angle she was working on the guy she was dancing with. The guy seemed slightly older than college-age, and Logan wondered if he was a philandering dirtbag that she was trying to bait for a cheated-on-spouse. It made his skin crawl, though, thinking of her putting herself in that kind of position. He tried to remind himself that she was a lot tougher than people, including himself, sometimes gave her credit for. That and the fact that she was in a public place and likely had Mr. Sparky in the small bag hanging off her shoulder made him feel slightly better.

Logan felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out to read the text he had just received. He wasn't terribly surprised to see Dick's name on his phone along with a somewhat apologetic note about not showing up. The ' _sorry dude - bumped into hot chick on my way_ ' was as close to a formal apology as he expected from his easily sidetracked friend.

When Logan glanced back up from his phone, his eyes landed on another familiar profile sitting at the opposite end of the bar. He couldn't help but notice the brunette was keeping a very determined gaze in the direction of where Veronica was still dancing. Logan spotted an empty seat at that end of the bar, so he picked up his beer bottle and made his way in that direction.

"I see you got wrangled into being back-up tonight?" Logan commented as he sat down on the empty bar stool.

Mac turned toward him and blinked in confusion for a second before she gave him a grim smile and nodded. Logan wasn't sure if the confusion was a reaction to her seeing him there or the comment about her being back-up. Mac didn't linger long looking at him, though, and quickly shifted her attention back to Veronica. The song ended a few seconds later, and Logan watched as Veronica seemed to thank the guy for the dance and then unsteadily made her way back toward Mac. Even though Veronica was never really one to get drunk herself, she'd spent more than enough time around Lilly and all their other friends to be able to easily imitate an inebriated person.

Logan could easily tell the second that Veronica spotted him, and he was very taken aback at the way her face lit up. They'd occasionally crossed paths since starting back at Hearst two quarters ago for their sophomore year, and while she always seemed polite enough, she certainly never looked overly happy to see him.

"Loooogan!" Veronica sung out happily as she closed the distance between them.

Logan cast a quick glance at Mac and he thought he detected a hint of a frown on her face before he turned his attention back to Veronica. She opened her arms wide, and before he knew what was happening,Veronica wrapped them around his torso and hugged him tightly. He awkwardly patted her on the back, not wanting to blow whatever cover she might be working but not really sure exactly what else to do. When she pulled away she still had a bubbly smile on her face as she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek—only a fraction of an inch from his mouth. Not only was the kiss surprising, but even more so was the very strong scent of alcohol on her breath. Before he even had a chance to ask what was going on, a guy Logan hadn't noticed before placed a large hand on Veronica's shoulder.

"You promised me the next dance, remember?" the guy said with a shy, hopeful smile.

"Right," Veronica replied, nodding in the guy's direction before turning back to Logan. " _You_ next though, okay?" she told him with her patented head tilt and sweet as honey smile that could pretty much guarantee any guy would do what she asked. "Don't leave, _promise_?" Logan nodded speechlessly, and a second later she was gone.

"What the hell's going on, _Mac_?" Logan asked in confusion as he turned his attention to the brunette next to him. She glanced at him for a second before turning her focus back toward Veronica.

" _Nothing_ ," she replied sternly, her gaze firmly locked on the dance floor.

"Bullshit, Mackenzie," Logan countered. It was very unlikely that Veronica would just randomly go out drinking for fun at a bar near campus, and Logan was also easily able to tell that Mac was lying.

"Isn't she allowed to blow off some steam every once in awhile? Act like a normal, irresponsible college student?" Mac replied defensively.

Logan hadn't meant to piss Mac off with his question, but he was certainly concerned by the situation. "I'm sorry... I just... she doesn't usually do this... so I was worried... that's all," he mumbled, hoping to smooth things over with Mac.

Mac exhaled loudly and glanced at him for a second before turning her attention back to Veronica. "I don't know _exactly_ what's going on. She told me she just wanted to go out and have some fun. I promised her I would keep an eye on her and not let her be alone with any strangers. So you don't need to worry. It's fine."

 _It's far from fine._ Logan let out a frustrated sigh while he turned his gaze back to the dance floor as well. At least the random dude Veronica was dancing with didn't seem like a threat or a sleazy perv, but that didn't help the sick feeling in Logan's gut. He clenched his jaw as he impatiently waited for the song to end. As the music started to wind down, he was relieved when she said something to the guy and then bounced back toward them.

"I'm dying for another drink," Veronica said as she reached for Logan's still mostly-full beer and took it from him before he had a chance to react. She made a disgusted face as she took a swig and then handed it back to him. "I liked those other drinks better, _Macky_... will you order another one while I dance with Logan... _pleeeease_?"

Mac gave her a placating smile and nodded. "Okay... but just one more... and then I think you've had enough for tonight."

Veronica gave her an exaggerated pout and then laughed. "Spoil sport," she giggled. "Come on, _Looogan_. You _promised_ you'd dance with me."

Before Logan had a second to even reply, Veronica grabbed his hand and tugged him out to the dance floor. Despite his uneasiness with her current state, he let her lead him out there. His concern at least momentarily started to fade the second she turned and beamed up at him. His mind had a hard time thinking about anything other than how it felt to have her look at him like that again. He found his lips quirking up into a smile without even intending to. _What is it about her smile that turns me to mush?_

Veronica started dancing to the music, and while she'd kept a fair amount of space between herself and the other two guys he'd watched her with, she moved as close as possible to him. After a few seconds, she spun so that her back was against his front and looked seductively over her shoulder at him as she continued to groove to the music. _What did I do to deserve this level of torture?_ He let out a slow shaky breath, trying to remind himself - and certain parts of his anatomy - that they weren't a couple and that they were in the middle of a public dance floor. He was grateful that she didn't stay in that position long, but instead turned back to face him. Even though he kept reminding himself that something major had to be wrong with her, he was still only about two seconds away from letting her do whatever she wanted to him and forgetting everything else that was going on.

"You look too stressed," she yelled over the music as she smiled up at him and reached up to tousle his hair. "Relax and have some fun. I know youknow how to have _fun_ , Logan."

He swallowed hard and then let himself smile again. "That's better," she said more quietly, as she continued to grin up at him, removing her hand from his hair and running it down his chest. A second later she reached for his hand, and did a spin under his arm when she lifted his hand up above her head.

Logan struggled throughout the song between wanting to just get completely carried away with her and holding on to the worry about what was really going on. Finally the song was over and she wasted no time in taking his hand and tugging him back to where Mac was sitting.

"Yummy," Veronica chirped excitedly as she took the large glass that Mac handed to her. Logan wasn't sure what the concoction was, but it took her practically no time at all to down half of it. " _Soooo_ _gooood_ ," Veronica happily announced as she looked between Logan and Mac with a goofy smile.

Mac shook her head slightly at Veronica before she let out an amused huff and then nodded in agreement.

"Finish your beer, so you can dance with me again," Veronica instructed as she picked Logan's beer up from where he'd left it beside Mac and shoved it into his hand. She took another long draw from her own glass as she bounced slightly to the song that was currently being played.

"Logan may have other plans tonight," Mac cautioned as she glanced between him and Veronica. Logan couldn't tell if Mac was intentionally trying to get rid of him or maybe trying to give him an out if he didn't want to stay. She seemed to say it in the nicest way possible, so it could have been the latter, but Logan's suspicious nature made him wonder if it wasn't the former.

Veronica turned to Logan with a dramatic pout on her face. " _Do_ you?" she asked, her big blue eyes looking expectantly at him.

Even if he actually had, there was no way he'd leave when she was looking at him like that; not to mention there really was no way he was letting her out of his sight until he knew she was safely home given her condition. While he certainly trusted Mac, he really needed that reassurance for himself. He shook his head in reply.

Veronica's pout was replaced by an enormous grin. "Good," she said as she nodded happily.

It seemed like Mac was looking critically at Logan for a moment before she spoke again. "Well if you're in good hands with Logan for a few minutes, I'm going to run to the restroom." Mac paused and turned to Logan. "Under _no_ circumstances are you to let her out of your sight or leave, got it?" she directed at him a bit more tersely.

Logan frowned slightly but nodded in understanding. Mac gave Veronica one more slightly concerned glance and then turned to head toward the back of the bar where the bathrooms were. Logan watched as Veronica quickly finished off the rest of her drink.

"Ready?" she asked with an outstretched hand, her eyes seeming slightly less focused than when she was talking to him before.

"Maybe we should wait for Mac to get back so she doesn't lose her seat," he suggested as he watched Veronica carefully. She bit on her lip and he wondered how quickly the alcohol was hitting her.

"She'll be _fiiine_ ," Veronica drawled out as she grabbed his hand and started tugging on him. " _Pleeease_ dance with me..."

He let out a sigh and reluctantly stood up from the stool. He hoped Mac's instructions not to 'leave' just meant the building in general and not their spot at the bar. He noticed Veronica stumbled a bit more on the way out to the dance floor, but she seemed to just laugh at herself when she did. They were only able to dance for a few seconds before the song faded out and a new one began. Most of the songs had been faster ones, but this one happened to be quite a bit slower, and other couples on the floor moved closer together. Veronica followed suit and did the same, wrapping her arms around Logan's neck and pressed herself tightly against him.

"We could wait for a faster song, if you want," Logan suggested as he leaned down so he could talk quietly into her ear. She turned her head unexpectedly causing their faces to be intimately close to each other.

"No," she replied almost breathlessly. Her expression reminded him of those few rare occasions at the Grand when she'd woken up next to him when she was still groggy and blissed out from their pre-sleeping activities. She bumped her nose gently into his as her gaze fell to his lips. "I miss you," she murmured as she licked her own lips.

He was about to reply that he missed her too when her head suddenly moved quickly away and her forehead thumped into his chest. "I feel _soooo dizzzzy_ ," she said weakly as he felt her grip start to loosen around his neck.

* * *

Veronica felt a terrible pain in her head as she slowly regained consciousness. It was as if someone had placed a vice around it and tightened it as far as it would go without actually causing her skull to crack open. Opening her eyelids seemed like a monumental task, but she mustered up enough strength to finally do it. She could tell, even before she opened her eyes, that she was lying on an extremely hard and cold surface and she wasn't surprised to find herself on a bathroom floor once she did finally pry her eyes open. Panic coursed through her though as she realized it was not the bathroom floor at her and her dad's apartment, and, thankfully she supposed, it also didn't look like the floor in the communal bathroom at Mac's dorm either. Just the thought of how gross that would have been to sleep on caused bile to rise up in her throat - either that or it was just the aftermath of how much she'd drank earlier. She had no idea what time it was, but at the moment figuring out where she was seemed much more pressing.

Veronica suddenly realized that her head was resting on a very soft, fluffy towel that had a familiar floral scent to it, and as she stared at the extremely clean porcelain toilet in front of her, a few memories from the night before came crashing back through the fog swirling around her brain. _The Grand._ She also realized, at about the same time, that there was a hand resting on her shoulder. Despite the pain from the bright light, she forced her eyes to focus, and she was able to spot the owner of the hand in a reflection off a silver toilet paper holder. _Logan_. He appeared to be asleep, his head resting on his other arm that was slung over the side of the bathtub. Several more memories from the night before came back to her, although they were all jumbled together. She remembered going to the bar with Mac and really enjoying a drink that the bartender had suggested she try. She remembered dancing with quite a few guys, and then out of nowhere, Logan had suddenly appeared. She unfortunately also remembered puking all over his bathroom and whining that she just wanted to lay on the cold bathroom floor because it felt good. She could taste a bit of mint in her mouth and remembered that he'd had her swish some mouthwash around and had her drink as much water as he could before she got angry and curled up on the floor again.

Her thoughts suddenly swirled back to a much different time. _But I'm always here...if you need anything..._ She doubted cleaning up her vomit and holding her hair back while she dry-heaved into the toilet had been what he'd had in mind when he'd said that to her last year. Deciding her current position wasn't really comfortable at all, Veronica attempted to sit up, groaning slightly as she tried. She heard Logan let out a drowzy groan when his hand slipped off her shoulder. She was able to sit up enough to pull her knees up toward her chest, and then she buried her head against them while she hugged her legs closer to her body, closing her eyes tightly again as the pain in her head intensified with the change in position.

"Hey, you okay?" she heard Logan mumble softly and then felt his hand lightly caressing her head and then her back.

She shook her head slowly.

"Head or stomach?" he asked next.

She slowly brought one of her arms up to point to her head.

"I'll get you something to help, but you need to drink more water too."

Veronica heard a drawer opening and then a pill bottle rattling before the sink turned on. A second later, the water turned off and she felt his hand gently squeeze her shoulder. She slowly tipped her head up to look at him. Logan was squatting down in front of her and held out a glass for her to take. She gave him a grateful look as she took the water and then he handed her a couple of pills. She didn't have the energy to ask what they were, so she just swallowed them down with the cold refreshing water. She really had no reservations about trusting him.

"Where's Mac?" Veronica asked weakly. "I was supposed to stay the night in her dorm room."

"She's sleeping in the other bedroom," Logan explained as he gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Dick's room?" Veronica asked, a bit horrified that Mac may have had to share a bed with Dick.

Logan shook his head. "No, Dick doesn't live here anymore… it's just me."

"Oh… I didn't know."

"She, um… she helped you change clothes before she finally crashed."

Veronica hadn't even realized she wasn't wearing what she'd had on at the bar. She glanced down and saw that she had one of her old t-shirts and shorts that she must have left at Logan's back when they were dating. Veronica took a slow steadying breath, hoping the dizzy sensation would fade away. "What time is it?" she asked before taking another drink of water.

"A little before four," Logan replied after glancing up at the clock on the counter. "Do you want to try lying in bed now? You were pretty adamant before about staying on the bathroom floor."

"Sorry... you didn't have to stay with me, you know." She wondered how long he'd been asleep leaning against the bathtub and she felt pretty guilty about it.

"I did promise Mac earlier at the bar that I wouldn't leave you, and I always keep my promises."

She gave him a weak smile and nodded.

"Do you want to try brushing your teeth? That might make you feel a little better."

Veronica nodded and started to try standing up and grimaced.

"Here, let me help you," Logan quickly volunteered and then scooped her up carefully and sat her down on the bathroom counter next to the sink. He opened one of the drawers and pulled out a travel toothbrush case and toothpaste. She gave him a fond smile as she took the toothbrush that she'd forgotten she'd even bought to keep there. She'd gotten it right before they broke up and never actually ever used it. He gave her a shy smile in reply. He obviously must have known who it belonged to, but he'd never thrown it out. Her hair started falling into her face as she leaned toward the sink and he immediately offered to hold it back for her, gently rubbing small circles on her back while she carefully brushed her teeth. When she was finished he offered her a little more mouthwash to swish around which definitely helped with the lingering bad taste that hadn't completely disappeared yet. When she was finished, he gingerly picked her up again and carried her out to his bed. She really was too exhausted to protest and leaned her head against his chest as he walked.

She couldn't help but smile fondly at the sight of the meticulously made and turned down bed. _Just one of the many perks of living in a hotel._ He sat her down carefully and then helped her get covered up.

"I'll move the trashcan next to you just in case you feel like throwing up again and can't make it to the bathroom, but you do seem to be past the worst of that now."

She nodded and looked at him gratefully, but then she started to frown as he headed for the bedroom door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll just crash on the couch," he explained as he looked at her with a subdued expression.

"There's plenty of room... please don't go," she blurted out, sounding way more needy than she'd intended. She wasn't sure if he'd noticed, but regardless, he nodded and walked back to the bed.

After climbing under the covers, Logan adjusted himself so that he was resting on his back with one arm propped up under his head, staring at the ceiling. She'd rolled onto her side so she could see him better. Even though the main lights in his room were turned off, there was still a soft glow from the light fixture above the headboard. Lying next to him like they were brought back so many good memories of other times she'd been in his bed with him. She'd certainly never expected to end up where she was when she'd gone out with Mac that night.

"Thank you... for everything tonight... you went _way_ above what I would have ever expected you to."

" _Why_?" he asked with a deeply troubled expression as he abruptly turned to face her.

She wasn't exactly sure what he was specifically asking, which made her hesitate for a moment. There was certainly something more meaningful in the way he'd asked it, and given the look on his face, she figured it was about more than her just not expecting him to help her like he had. "Why wouldn't I expect _that_ , or _why_ did I get drunk tonight?" she finally asked since she wasn't sure what he really wanted to know.

'Both," he replied looking even more concerned than before.

"Well... the _first_... because... I don't know... we're not together anymore and I never expected you to give up your Friday night to take care of me. I'm sure you probably had better things... or other people… you wanted to do... things with." She internally cringed at how the last part had come out.

He frowned and shook his head at her. "I still consider you one of my best friends, Veronica... even if you don't feel that way about me... and I promised I'd _always_ be there for you, and like I said earlier, I don't break my promises." Both his expression and tone were very serious as he spoke.

"But it's not fair to _you_ to have to feel that way... after everything... I can't ask that of you."

"Well, that's the thing about _true_ friends... you don't have to ask."

She felt emotions start to bubble up that she usually tried to avoid, but in her current state she didn't seem to have any control over them. She wasn't sure if he could tell her eyes had gotten a bit watery in the soft glow that came from the obscure wall mounted lighting decoration above the bed. He must have noticed, though, because he reached out to gently run his thumb under her eye when she felt a stray tear slip over her eyelid.

"And the _second_?" he asked softly.

She let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes. He didn't say anything, but his hand was still resting on her cheek, his thumb very gently stroking across her cheekbone. After a few seconds she braced herself and opened her eyes again. His soulful brown eyes were still staring at her, with a concerned look evident on his face. She swallowed the lump she felt form in her throat and rolled onto her back so she wouldn't have to look at him, staring at the ceiling instead. She'd been the one to push for complete intimacy before, but when it came to her own demons and issues, she realized she was the one who struggled to be honest. He'd pulled his hand away as she started to move and she heard him rest it on the bed next to her head; not trying to touch her again.

"I'm guessing you won't buy the ' _I just felt like cutting loose?_ ' excuse," she mumbled helplessly.

"No," he breathed softly.

"It's stupid, really," she muttered as she closed her eyes again, setting her jaw tight.

"I _highly_ doubt that, Veronica," he murmured compassionately.

She exhaled loudly as she opened her eyes and stared at the dark ceiling again, still not willing to turn to look at him. The light from the headboard made odd patterns on the dark ceiling and she concentrated on those as she thought about what to say. _If anyone in the world could understand how I feel—even if it is completely irrational—it would be Logan._ What they'd been through when they were younger… no one else on the face of the earth could ever relate to that. It still didn't make it any easier to actually admit it out loud though. A part of her wished he would reach out and pull her to his chest and whisper that everything was okay… that he was there for her no matter what, but that's not who they were now… she didn't have any right to expect that. She felt a few tears roll down her cheeks and she closed her eyes tightly, trying to steady her composure again.

"Please talk to me, Veronica?" he pleaded in such a soft whisper that she barely heard him.

She felt her chin tremble and bit on her lip to try to keep from crying. She'd done enough of that earlier before she'd finally pulled herself together and asked Mac to go out with her so she wouldn't have to think about it anymore. But if she didn't talk to someone, wouldn't the same terrible thoughts just keep coming back. _If the only person who could maybe understand how I feel wants to help, why is it so hard to let him?_ Maybe it was because deep down she kept telling herself that it really was stupid and the fear of saying it outloud was just too overwhelming.

"I just want to help, Veronica…" he assured her. She couldn't help but find the tenderness and concern in his tone a little overwhelming. Even after everything they'd been through, he still seemed to care so much about her and regardless of whether her earlier thoughts were totally irrational, she knew in her heart he'd never make her feel that way.

She opened her eyes again and exhaled loudly. "I'm sure you heard the Kanes filed for divorce a month or so ago?" Veronica asked in a soft but steady tone. She heard him whisper 'yeah' very softly. She took a deep breath, hoping that would help her get through the next part. "Well… um… my _mom_ showed up this morning… to tell me her _big_ news…" She paused and swallowed hard. At least she could draw on some of her anger to try to overshadow some of the sadness. "That she and Jake were getting _married_." She heard Logan let out a soft 'oh' and she nodded her head, but still stared at the ceiling instead of looking at him. "And then…" she felt her voice break slightly. "After she told me, I started thinking… how if they'd only done that years ago… before Lilly..." She couldn't hold back the sob that surged from her. "If they'd just done that when we were younger… maybe things would have been different… I could have known… or been there… I don't know… I just… all those _years_ of them having an affair… and all the damage that did… and now… I'm just so angry… about everything… and wishing it could have been different… but it's irrational and pointless now." She realized she was crying again, which instantly made her angry with herself for not being able to handle it better than she was.

"Hey…" Logan said soothingly as he shifted and wrapped his arms around her sobbing body and pulled her to his chest. "It's okay." She felt him place a soft kiss on the top of her head. "I know how much it hurts to think about what you could have done differently to save her. I spent countless hours doing that to myself after she was gone. And I'm also sure dredging up all those old feelings about everything your mom did couldn't have been easy for you either."

Veronica shook her head against his chest before taking a deep breath. "It doesn't matter now… like I said… it's _stupid_ and pointless to get upset about it now."

She felt Logan's hand move up to her head where he started stroking her hair gently. "Your feelings are never pointless, Veronica. You've had to deal with so much… I guess we both have… but feeling angry and upset about things from time to time is natural and you shouldn't berate yourself for it. And I certainly can't lecture anyone about getting drunk to try to deal with things, even if it's not the greatest idea. Just um..." He paused and cleared his throat, sounding more emotional all of a sudden. His hesitation caused her to finally look up at him. Their faces were so close that she could easily see all the emotions brewing behind his eyes. "I would _die_ if something ever happened to you… you know… I'm _always_ here if you need someone who understands… instead of… of feeling alone and not having someone you can talk—"

Before he could say another word, Veronica pressed her lips to his. She knew it was probably not the smartest idea, but at that second she didn't really care. He seemed surprised for a moment, but then she felt his arms squeeze her a little tighter; then her brain reminded her that she'd just spent the last few hours sleeping on his bathroom floor after getting drunk and puking everywhere.

"Oh my god," she said slightly horrified as she pulled away and covered her mouth with one of her hands. "I'm sorry… ugh… that must have been terrible for you."

At first there was a look of despair on Logan's face, but then he chuckled and shook his head at her; a smile slowly spreading across his lips. "Kissing you is never _terrible_." She shook her head at him as the flush of embarrassment continued to spread across her cheeks. "You tasted _minty fresh…_ if that's what you're worried about."

She let out a soft huff of breath and nodded. He reached up and pushed some hair off of her forehead and then placed a soft, tender kiss there. "You should get some more rest… we can talk more in the morning, okay?"

She nodded again and shifted so she could nestle her head against his chest. Logan adjusted his arms again so they were protectively wrapped around her and then placed one more kiss on the top of her head. After her tearful confession and the lingering effects of drinking way too much, she felt herself quickly drift off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Thanks for all the birthday wishes on the first chapter and all the lovely reviews! It was great to hear from so many of you again. As always, special thanks to Bondopoulos for always being such a wonderful beta!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas._**

* * *

 _ **(FF note - sorry I didn't realize the format I had it in didn't bring the line break over in the first chapter. I fixed it now. I meant for it to be there when I switched POV, so sorry to cause confusion on that abrupt switch in the middle!)**_

Logan could tell that Veronica had fallen asleep rather quickly, but there were way too many thoughts bouncing around his mind for him to rest. Even though she'd seemed completely coherent when she'd kissed him, he was worried about letting it continue on to something more serious given how emotionally fragile she seemed to be. While he would give almost anything to be with her again, he was concerned that she'd regret it later and then he'd have to go through the devastation of losing her all over again. So instead of sleeping, he lay awake, savoring the comforting familiar feeling of having her wrapped up in his arms. While he hoped that she'd still feel the same way when she woke up, he was preparing himself for that not being the case. He also hoped that she'd at least take what he'd told her to heart, and if she felt like she needed someone to talk to—someone who could understand what she was feeling—that she'd reach out to him. While he felt terrible about what she was going through, he couldn't help but be grateful that they'd crossed paths earlier that night.

Logan certainly felt as shocked as Veronica seemed to be about Jake and Lianne's news. Veronica had briefly mentioned the affair to him back when they were dating, but she hadn't really wanted to talk much about it and he never pushed her to. Hearing that Jake and Lianne were now planning to get married was definitely the last thing Logan expected to hear. He wasn't sure when Veronica had last spoken to her mom, but having Lianne show up to share that news couldn't have been easy for Veronica. He wasn't surprised that Veronica would be feeling completely overwhelmed by all of that. He felt terrible that she had gone down the 'what if' path in regards to Lilly's death. Logan had spent way too much time doing that back in high school and knew exactly how terrible he'd made himself feel. It had taken him a long time to accept that Lilly had made her own choices, and that he couldn't keep blaming himself for not being able to save her.

In addition to the thoughts about Lilly, he wondered how much Veronica was also struggling at the prospect of Jake becoming her step-father. There had been a time when having Jake for a father hadn't seemed like a bad prospect at all to Logan, but that was back when they were very young—before he was disillusioned by everything they'd gone through. Logan could tell back when he and Veronica had briefly talked about Lianne's affair that Veronica was furious at her mom for being unfaithful to her dad. Not only had Lianne let Veronica down, but she'd also hurt Keith with her choices. And of course, not only would Jake now become her step-father, but that also meant that Duncan, wherever he was, would soon be her stepbrother. That was certainly a bit surreal to imagine.

Eventually exhaustion overtook Logan and he dozed off into a fitful sleep filled with haunting dreams of Lilly and Aaron, and of Duncan and Veronica as well. Logan wasn't sure how long he'd slept, but he was awoken by Veronica squirming in his arms.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I need to go use the bathroom."

"You okay? Need any help?" he mumbled as he loosened his hold so she could climb out of bed.

"I'll be fine. I'm feeling much better than earlier."

He gave her a somber smile and nodded before she slipped off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was only a little after seven. He didn't hear Mac moving around the suite yet, so he figured she was still asleep. He couldn't shake the sinking feeling that when Veronica came back out, she'd decide to go share the other bed with Mac. He imagined that after several hours of sleep, she'd be thinking more clearly now and would undoubtedly not want to curl back up into bed with him. He thought he'd sensed a bit of embarrassment in her expression as she'd slid off the bed, and he was bracing himself for the worst when she returned.

It took a while for Veronica to emerge from the bathroom, and he'd started to wonder if he should get up to check on her. Just as he was about to climb out of bed himself, she finally came out. The expression on her face was reminiscent of those rare occasions when he knew that she'd regretted something she'd done. He gave her an encouraging smile anyway, not wanting her to feel bad if she had realized that what she'd done earlier had been a mistake. He was expecting her to make an excuse to go, but instead was surprised when she crawled back into bed, settling under the covers next to him.

"I um…" she started, sounding quite a bit more nervous than he was used to hearing from her. "I think I said this before—although some things are still a bit _fuzzy_ —but thank you. Thank you for taking care of me… and for listening to my ridiculous break-down earlier."

Logan reached out and gently squeezed her hand reflexively. "It wasn't ridiculous at all, and I was more than happy to be there for you tonight." He couldn't help feeling a tinge of embarrassment thinking back to some of the nights when they were much younger. While Lilly had never been much of a corrupting influence on Veronica, he'd certainly couldn't say the same for himself. "I'm pretty sure that if we're keeping score, you're still way ahead with how many times you helped my drunk ass over the years."

Logan was happy to see that, at the very least, his comment caused a small smile to form on her lips. Realizing that he was still holding her hand, he looked away from her face down to their joined hands and then gently rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. He was disappointed, but not terribly surprised, when she pulled her hand away a second later. He kept staring down at the bed, expecting her to start into a speech about how kissing him earlier had been a mistake. He definitely did not expect her to reach up and gently touch his cheek. The unexpected gesture caused him to look back up at her face.

"I um… I brushed my teeth and used some of your mouthwash again," she told him, nervously biting her lower lip after she spoke. "Hopefully I really _am_ minty fresh now… but I'll understand if—"

This time he was the one to cut her off with a kiss. He gently pressed his lips to hers, eliciting a soft moan against his mouth. She slid her hand around to the back of his head, her nails lightly scraping his scalp as she pulled him closer to her. For a few long, wonderful seconds he just let himself get lost in the moment. It was easy to just surrender to the undeniable pull he always felt when he was near her. While he could have easily pushed away all rational thoughts and not stop, he'd been down a similar path one too many times. The scars from how it always ended made him anxious about jumping headfirst into something when he knew Veronica was not in a very emotionally stable place. He reluctantly pulled his lips away from hers and rested his forehead against hers. He could see the corners of her mouth turn down before she bit on the side of her mouth.

" _Not_ minty fresh?" she asked sounding a little breathless.

"No... I mean, yes... I mean, you _are_ minty fresh... that's not why I stopped," he stammered ineloquently.

She pulled her head away from his and looked at him warily. "Then why?" she asked with a slight hint of vulnerability in her tone.

Logan reached up and gently traced the tip of his index finger along her hairline from above her eyebrow down toward her chin. A small sense of panic settled in as he worried about how she may react to what he was going to say.

"I um..." _Man up, Logan, you know you need to say this for not only you, but her too._ He let out a loud sigh before he continued. "You've just had a ton of shit dropped on you and I don't want to be—I _can't_ be—just a momentary distraction to take your mind off of things."

"Oh..." Veronica replied as she seemed to be carefully considering his comment. "But that's not... I thought..."

"Veronica," Logan started again, moving his hand down to gently squeeze hers again. "There's _nothing_ in this world I want more than to be with you again, but I don't want you to do something that you'll regret when you're over the bombshell your mom dropped on you."

A small smile slowly formed on Veronica's face, which was not what Logan had expected at all. "My feelings for you have never been _momentary_. I promise I'm not just using you to forget about the stuff with my mom and Jake. I really do appreciate you looking out for my best interests, though... and I understand where you're coming from... but I don't think you need to worry. I don't want this to be a momentary thing either... I meant it earlier when I said I missed you... that was one part of my night that I do remember and that I wouldn't want to take back."

"I really do want to believe that," Logan replied hesitantly.

"Then do," Veronica said as she reached up to run her fingers through his hair again. She gave him an encouraging smile and then leaned closer to him so that their noses bumped gently together. "You said there's nothing in this world that you want more than this... I want this too. It really can be as simple as that, can't it?"

Logan nodded slowly and then pressed his lips against hers again. He really did want to believe what she'd said and he knew she wasn't intentionally lying or leading him on, but he also couldn't shake his concern about her changing her mind once she got over the shocking news that had basically caused her to go out drinking to forget. Veronica slid down on the bed, pulling him down with her and Logan began to follow her lead. Before they got very far though, he stopped kissing her and shifted so he was lying on his side next to her, propping his head up on his bent arm to look at her. He easily recognized the look on her face as the one she would get when she was mildly irritated, and he could easily guess why. He gave her a placating smile and leaned closer to place a kiss on her forehead.

"I was thinking… that _maybe_... we should take things slower this time."

She crooked an eyebrow at him with a slightly incredulous look on her face but then a lascivious leer replaced the skepticism. " _Slow_ sounds good for the _first_ time. We can save the more adventurous stuff for round _two_."

Logan chuckled and shook his head at her. "That wasn't exactly what I meant."

She shrugged and gave him a more subdued smile. "I know... but you can't blame a girl for trying." She paused and bit on her lip for a moment. "So _slow_? - what exactly did you have in mind?"

Logan twirled a few strands of her hair around his finger as he tried to answer that question himself. While a voice inside of him had been screaming to be cautious about things given what she'd just learned, he hadn't taken the time to figure out exactly what that meant either.

"Well... of course I'm here for you as a friend for whatever you need. You can call me anytime... day or night if you want to talk, but as for _us_... I just want to be sure you have enough time to really process all your emotions before we jump into something serious again. While I'd love to believe that surreptitiously bumping into each other really did mean something, I'd still feel better giving you time to decide if that's really what you want. I don't know... maybe we could go out on a real date... in a few days... see where things go from there." He braced himself for her reaction as he slowly took in a breath and held it. He was relieved when her lips at least turned up into a tender smile.

"Okay," Veronica replied as she nodded slowly. "I guess that seems reasonable... " She paused for a second before she continued, one eyebrow raised inquisitively. "Can we um... still kiss a little now, though? I mean… only if you still want to..."

Logan laughed softly and nodded before he leaned in and kissed her again. He could feel her smile against his lips and he couldn't help smiling himself.

* * *

Veronica was certainly surprised by Logan's insistence on taking things slow, but given their past couple of relationship failures, she wasn't going to argue about taking a different approach this time. After kissing for a while, Logan had pulled away and asked if she wanted to try to sleep some more or if she was feeling up to eating some breakfast. It was easy for her to tell that he was trying to slow things down before they got too carried away. Despite the state she'd been in earlier, she actually did feel like she could eat something now.

"I think I could _try_ to eat," she answered with a coy grin, causing Logan to chuckle.

"Stay right here… I'll be back in a minute," Logan announced before placing a quick kiss on her nose and then hopping out of bed. A second later he disappeared out the bedroom door with a flirty wink. Veronica could hear him moving around in the main area of the suite, including what she thought sounded like cabinets or drawers being opened and closed. A few minutes passed before he returned with what appeared to be a Grand menu in his hand. She gave him a perplexed look, because it wasn't like she hadn't ordered breakfast there before. "They completely overhauled their room service menu a couple months ago," he explained while he climbed back on the bed next to her. "New chef."

"Oh…" she replied, slightly disappointed as she thought back to all of her old favorites. He opened the menu in front of her and did a fancy hand wave as he presented it to her. She chuckled slightly before she started looking it over. "Any recommendations?" she asked as she read over the drastically different options.

"Um… well I had immediately thought of you when I read this one…" he commented playfully as he reached out and pointed to one of the items.

"Sticky-bun french toast?" she read out loud with a chuckle.

"With berries and pecans," he added with a smirk, although the look definitely wasn't related to the accompaniments.

Veronica blushed and shook her head at him. She couldn't help but remember one of the few mornings after she'd been able to stay overnight with him and he'd ordered room service for them. She'd fallen back asleep completely naked while lying on her stomach when he'd gone out to get the door. She woke up to the sensation of warm syrup being poured in a small line up the back of her thigh, across one butt cheek and ending at the small of her back. Logan had then sensually ran his tongue up the same trail, removing the syrup as much as he could. She'd of course giggled and tried squirming away, but had been unsuccessful in her attempt to get him to stop. Their breakfast had been completely cold by the time they'd finally gotten back to eating given the distraction that had led to.

"Should we um… should we see if Mac's awake and wants something too?" Logan asked quickly, perhaps trying to divert attention away from sticky buns.

Veronica bit on her lip and shrugged. She was certainly enjoying her time with just Logan and part of her wanted to keep it that way a little longer. "Well, if you didn't see her when you went searching for the menu, odds are she's still asleep. She's not much of an early morning person. We can order something for her later when she ventures out on her own," Veronica answered, wanting to try to extend their private time as long as possible.

Logan called in their order once Veronica had decided on what she wanted and then disappeared out to the main room again. He returned a minute later with a Gatorade for her to drink while they waited for their breakfast to be delivered.

"So.. is um…" Logan hesitantly started to ask as Veronica took a drink out of the bottle he'd handed her. "Is your mom living in Neptune now?"

Veronica tried not to cringe at his question, but she wasn't sure she'd pulled that off completely. She wasn't surprised, given how she'd acted when she shared her mom's news with Logan the night before, that he'd be curious about the situation. She could also understand him not being sure how much he should even ask with how upset she'd been when she told him about it.

"Yeah… well she will be... " Veronica started and then blew out a long slow breath. "I guess Jake had been paying for an apartment in LA that she's been living in for quite a while, but now that they are _officially_ together, he's buying a house over on Manzanita that they're moving into." Veronica paused and shook her head slightly before she continued. "She told me that she was going to set up one of the bedrooms just for me to use and that she hoped I'd come and spend time with them there."

Veronica could tell by Logan's expression that he was as surprised by the last part as she'd been when her mom had first told her. "And um..." he stammered out. "How do you feel about _that_?"

Veronica laughed bitterly and shook her head again. "I can't imagine going and staying there with them." Logan gave her an understanding smile and reached out to gently squeeze her hand. "They actually went to New York for several days for some work conference that Jake had to go to, but she really wants to get together again when they are back. She said we could go shopping and pick out things to decorate _my_ room when they get back," Veronica explained sardonically. "My mom said a designer is already working out plans for decorating some of the other rooms in the house, but she really wanted me to feel comfortable in my _own_ room and thought it would be fun to decorate it together like we had when I was younger."

"Well that sounds… _fun_?" Logan commented, clearly sensing how uncomfortable that would really be. "Do you think you'll humor her and go along with it?"

Veronica shrugged and let out a soft sigh. "I don't know… at this moment, I'm thinking no… but I'm sure she'll keep after me until I do." Veronica let out another derisive laugh. "She actually suggested that I come for dinner when they return so I can spend time with both her _and_ Jake. I'm guessing she has no idea how my last interaction with Jake went."

Logan quirked his eyebrows at her in an obvious request for her to elaborate.

"Let's just say it wasn't a terribly _friendly_ encounter… there may have been a bit of B&E and not-so-veiled threats involved…"

Logan's eyes opened widely as his mouth opened and then closed. Obviously he wasn't quite sure what to say to that.

Veronica shrugged and gave him an innocent smile. "Come on… I'm sure you're not that shocked. I mean… speechless Logan Echolls is so rare." She pretended to make an invisible check-mark in the air causing him to smirk and shake his head at her.

"And I always thought he didn't care much for _me_ …" Logan commented with a hint of amusement in his tone.

Veronica laughed and gave him a devious grin. "Well, I'm sure the _two_ of us going together could be a lot of fun then." She caught a quick grimace on his face. "Come on… you said you would be there for me… _anything_ I needed, right?"

Logan chuckled softly and nodded his head. "Yep, I sure did… and I meant it… of course I didn't expect it to entail having to endure _quality family time_ with Jake and your mom, but if that's what you need, then I'm your guy. His disdain for me will certainly make him see you in a more favorable light I'm sure."

"Did you see him much when you and Duncan were living here together?" she asked curiously. They'd never really discussed how things were between Logan and Jake after Aaron was accused of killing Lilly. She'd had her own run in with Celeste at their suite, but she wondered if Jake had ever been there when Logan was there too.

Logan shook his head. "No, Celeste stopped by to see Duncan a few times to take him to dinner, but Jake never came along with her."

"He was probably taking advantage of Celeste being occupied to meet up with my mom in LA," Veronica scoffed.

"While the wicked witch is away…" Logan mused. Veronica couldn't keep the smirk off her face. The familiar nickname that they all called Celeste when they were younger always had that effect.

"I can just see her fuming about Jake and my mom—I wonder if he's had the guts to even tell her about it. Obviously they haven't really announced it broadly yet, or I'm sure it would have shown up in the paper by now."

"We both know that Jake standing up to Celeste was pretty rare, even when they were pretending to be happily married. Even _he_ didn't want to evoke her wrath that often. I'd bet he hasn't told her yet."

"Yeah," Veronica agreed with a fond smile. "Lilly was certainly the only one who enjoyed clashing with her."

"Are you going to try to tell me you didn't like getting under her skin too… I uh, I may have been in my room the afternoon you two had your little face-off over you being Duncan's secret girlfriend," Logan confessed with a slightly sheepish look on his face.

"Oh," Veronica replied in surprise.

"I waited to be sure you were gone before I came out of my room," he admitted teasingly.

She'd never thought about whether Logan was there that day. Her modus operandi had been to ignore him as much as possible back then, and she certainly never inquired about whether he was there or not. He seemed to go out of his way to irritate her when she stopped by though, so she'd just assumed he wasn't around. "Yeah, I guess I may have picked up that torch a little after Lilly was gone."

"Well I think Lilly would have given you an A-plus for your performance that day," he commented with a proud smirk. "I may have even avoided you the next day because of that."

Veronica rolled her eyes at him. "I don't remember you ever backing down when sparring with me back then. You sometimes even seemed to go out of your way to goad me on."

She thought he looked a little embarrassed for a moment. "What can I say, a riled up Veronica is pretty, um… _inspiring_ ," he mumbled, obviously trying to not say something to get himself into trouble.

"Well, too bad it wasn't dinner with Celeste then… I'm sure that would _inspire_ you even more," she teased suggestively.

He laughed and shook his head. "Careful what you wish for… maybe Jake will invite her over to your _family_ dinner as well to break the news to her if she doesn't already know."

Veronica visibly shuddered which made him laugh a little harder. "Okay, okay… you don't have to get all crazy on me just because I threatened to drag you along," she countered playfully.

She wasn't expecting his expression to soften but it did. "I meant it when I said I'd be there for you no matter what. Even if it's to be a buffer between you and Jake… just let me know when and where, and I promise I'll be there."

Veronica wasn't sure she'd actually hold him to that promise, but the fact that he was willing to do that for her made her feel genuinely grateful. She leaned close enough to him so she could place a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thanks," she said softly with a tender smile. She knew she'd missed him off and on during the past year or so, but she hadn't realized how much having his support in tough times really meant to her. They'd been through so much intensely serious stuff together, but it seemed like they'd never really had the time to just be there for each other for smaller issues too. Her mom marrying Jake was certainly not on the same scale as dealing with college rapists or dangerous Irish thugs, but it still made her feel a million times better knowing Logan would be there to support her through it now.

"So how's your dad feel about the news?" Logan asked next.

Veronica let out a deep sigh. "I don't think he actually knows… well, he didn't mention it to me at least. He's tracking a bail jumper down to New Mexico, and I didn't feel like it was a conversation we should have over the phone, so I decided to wait until he's back to broach the subject." She paused and shrugged. "I can't imagine he'll be very happy about it, though. Clearly there was already so much bad blood between Jake and my dad."

"Yeah," Logan replied with a small grimace. "Hard for everything to just be water under the bridge I suppose."

"Exactly. I doubt my mom has any idea what happened after she left," Veronica muttered as she frowned. "And I certainly didn't help matters at all."

"Why do you say that?"

Veronica took a deep breath and shook her head. "Well…" she started a little hesitantly. "That B&E I mentioned earlier?" Logan nodded slowly in response. "It turned into a huge mess. I thought I had it all under control…I didn't realize, before I broke in, that it was even Jake's house. It was right before the election, and the evidence got tampered with…I guess my dad trying to protect me. In the end, Jake knew he would ruin my dad's chance at being reelected, but he didn't care. So, yeah... I don't think my dad will be too thrilled by this news."

Logan pulled her toward him and kissed the top of her head. "Sorry that had to happen. If anyone in this world deserves things to work out for them, it's you and your dad," he told her sympathetically.

"Thanks," Veronica replied as she wrapped her arms around his chest and nestled tightly against him. She only wished it was as simple as that though, but realistically her cynical side wouldn't let her completely believe that some magical happy ending was in the cards for either her or her dad. At least for the moment though, being there with Logan, she tried to keep a hopeful outlook.

Their tender moment was interrupted by a knock on the outer door. Logan gave her a quick kiss on the temple before he headed out to retrieve their breakfast. Veronica couldn't help but smirk to herself as she recognized Jeff Ratner's voice after Logan opened the door. She listened as Ratner gave Logan a bit of slack for ordering two meals. She considered climbing out of bed and giving Ratner a hard time, but decided that in her current state, that would be more effort that he was actually worth. A second later she heard Ratner retreat and the the sound of the room service cart being pushed toward the bedroom door.

"Your breakfast has arrived," Logan said with a big smile and a flourish of his hand as he appeared in the doorway with the cart in front of him.

"Mmm… breakfast in bed… my favorite," Veronica teased as Logan lifted a tray from the cart and placed it across her lap. Even if she didn't expect to ever get a perfect happy ending, breakfast in bed with Logan was definitely a step in the right direction.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks for all of the reviews on the first two chapters. I don't think I had a chance to respond to very many of them, but will do more on this chapter for sure.**_

 _ **As always, special thanks to Bondopoulos for always being such a fabulous beta!**_

Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.

Surprisingly, the first part of the week had flown by for Logan. In addition to just attending classes and keeping up with his regular course work, the rest of his time had been consumed by a huge assignment that was due for his political science class. While freshman Logan may have blown some of his homework off to try to spend more time with Veronica, sophomore Logan was actually trying to take school more seriously. He had been pleased that he'd at least run into her a few times on campus, and while their exchanges had been somewhat flirtatious, they hadn't really had any physical interaction with each other since they'd parted ways Saturday afternoon at the Grand. Even though it had been his idea to take things slow this time around, Logan was still finding it excruciating to have to wait to spend some quality time alone with her. Veronica had commented about her own heavy schedule of classes, which he was also trying to be mindful of and used that as another motivation to give her some time alone. Even though they hadn't physically spent any lengthy time together, they had texted several times after they parted ways—mostly just quick check-ins—because he wanted to be sure that she realized that he was serious about being there for her as a friend as Veronica dealt with her mom's unexpected reemergence in her life.

Logan had initially suggested going out for a fancy dinner on their first formal date, but Veronica had opted for a more casual meal at Luigi's instead. He certainly wasn't terribly surprised, knowing how much she loved their Italian food, so he didn't really push for his initial suggestion. They did reach a bit of a compromise, though, and decided that they'd get together on Wednesday evening after Veronica's shift at the library was over to go to Luigi's and then she'd let him take her out for a fancier dinner on Saturday night.

Logan decided to work off some of his nervous energy with a quick workout in the hotel's gym since he had time to kill while he waited for Veronica to arrive after her shift at the library. He thought the workout had helped, but as he made his way back to the penthouse, that sense of exhilaration of being able to spend the evening with her started building again. He was acutely aware that he was feeling a strange mix of excitement and trepidation given he still had some lingering doubts about how things would go for them this time. He did his best though to push those concerns out of his mind and forced himself to focus on the fact that despite all the obstacles that had come between them in the past, he was getting the chance to spend an entire evening with Veronica again.

He had barely finished showering and dressing when he heard a knock at the door. Logan glanced at his watch, wondering if he'd somehow lost track of time. He hadn't expected Veronica to arrive that early, but he certainly wouldn't complain about getting to spend extra time with her. He took one quick look in the mirror again before heading out of his room. He had to make a conscious effort to not let himself skip through the suite on the way to the door given his excitement about the evening that laid ahead of him.

"You know you could just use your key card—" he started to say as he opened the door, stopping abruptly when he spotted the unexpected face staring back at him.

"I think I may have lost that… somewhere along the way."

Logan stood there completely speechless for a moment. Never in a million years had he expected to see who he was now standing face to face with.

"Um…. is it okay if I come in?"

" _Duncan_?" Logan finally blurted out as his mind was still trying to catch up to the fact that his old friend was actually standing right there in front of him. Logan blinked a few times before Duncan's question finally registered. "Oh… yeah… sorry…" Logan stuttered almost incomprehensibly. He took a step back and opened the door wider so Duncan could walk inside the suite.

"How are you _here_?" Logan asked incredulously as he closed the door, still staring at Duncan in disbelief.

"Well… that's sort of a long story… maybe best told over a couple of beers… if you have time that is?"

"Yeah… um…" Logan shook his head, trying to clear away the shock that had overtaken him. "Of course…" Duncan gave him an amused smile as Logan headed toward the mini-fridge. By the time Logan had turned back around with two bottles of beer, Duncan had already taken a seat on the sectional couch; he kicked his feet up on the ottoman in front of it.

"Man, I've missed this place," Duncan said with a nostalgic grin as he spread his arms out across the back of the couch. "And of course you… and everyone else here too."

A sick feeling suddenly replaced the shock that Logan had been feeling. _Veronica_. His mind immediately flashed to the last time he'd seen the two of them snuggled up in the exact same spot that Duncan now sat. Before he could even start to worry about what intentions Duncan may have had in regards to her, Duncan was talking again.

"When you're on the run from the authorities, you don't get to stay in many five star hotels," Duncan continued as he reached out to take one of the beer bottles from Logan. "Of course I arranged nice enough accommodations for me and Lilly, but nothing as nice as this."

Logan gave him a confused look at the mention of Lilly's name.

"Oh, sorry… I named my daughter Lilly… I guess I didn't really mention that before I left, did I? I know Meg's parents had planned to call her Faith, but I never used that name for her."

Logan nodded in understanding. He was about to ask where the baby was when there was another knock at the door. _Veronica_. Logan held up a finger in a one-minute gesture before walking over to open the door. He took a deep breath and braced himself as he reached down and turned the handle.

"I know I'm a little early, but Marci actually showed up ahead of schedule for her shift and I'm starving, so I headed straight—" Veronica began the second Logan opened the door, but she must have noticed something was wrong because she stopped talking and tilted her head as she looked at him questioningly.

"You'll _never_ guess who showed up just a few minutes before you," Logan said to her with what he was sure had to have been a very shellshocked look on his face.

Veronica narrowed her eyes slightly before she looked past him into the main suite. Logan could tell the second she spotted Duncan by the way her eyes opened wide. She sucked in a tiny gasp as she took a few more steps into the suite.

"Duncan?" she exclaimed.

Logan watched Duncan hop off the couch and close the distance between himself and Veronica.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you," Duncan blurted out happily as his arms wrapped around Veronica's waist. He lifted her off of the ground and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Oh my god... what are you doing here?" Veronica asked in amazement as Duncan let her back down. Logan took a deep calming breath and closed the door, trying his best not to slam it shut.

"I was just about to share my story with Logan… I um... I actually stopped by your apartment first and then Mars Investigations, but came up empty at both places... I wasn't sure if you were still in town or had gone off to college somewhere else."

"Oh... right… I um… I'm still here going to Hearst…" Veronica finally tore her gaze from Duncan and looked at Logan for a moment. "Logan... _and_ Dick... are going there too… Mac and Wallace as well… some days it almost feels like we never left high school." She let out what Logan thought sounded like a nervous chuckle as she glanced one more time at him and then back at Duncan.

Duncan gave Logan a small grin. "I guess I should have asked Logan where to find you then. I wasn't even sure he'd still be staying here at the Grand, but I took a chance and was happy when I recognized Tina down at the reception desk."

"So how are you actually here?" Veronica asked, a bit of impatience coming through in her tone.

Duncan laughed and shook his head. "Glad to see you're still as _patient_ as always," Duncan teased as he smirked at her. "Would you like a beer too?" he added as he tipped his bottle toward her.

Veronica let out a soft chuckle herself and nodded as she glanced at Logan again. Logan gave her a grim smile as he handed her his unopened bottle. "You can have this one. I'll grab another."

"Thanks," she said with what looked like a nervous smile as she took the bottle from him. Logan nodded and then walked over to the mini-fridge again.

By the time Logan had grabbed another beer, Duncan had resumed his spot on the couch and Veronica had taken a seat about a foot away from him. Logan took a seat on one of the chairs next to the couch rather than joining them on the sectional. He took a long swallow from his beer after removing the cap. This was absolutely not the way he'd hoped this night would go. _Of all the nights for Duncan to show up._

"So... where to begin," Duncan started as he glanced between Veronica and Logan. "I guess I'll start with how it is I'm here and not locked away somewhere. That little miracle has taken a while to pull off, but thanks to Clarence and his very extensive connections in all sorts of important places, my parents were able to broker a deal that allowed me to return to the states with Lilly and not have any charges pressed against me. I honestly don't know exactly what all they had to do to make that happened, but with my Dad's connections and Clarence's… well, here I am."

Logan couldn't help but notice that Veronica narrowed her eyes in a slightly and he wondered if she found Duncan's story a little suspicious. He'd always known the Kanes were well connected, but to beat a kidnapping charge with the FBI meant those connections went even deeper than he imagined; that or Clarence had some pretty powerful connections too.

"And where is Lilly?" Veronica asked next, rather than questioning Duncan's explanation, which Logan had been somewhat expecting her to do. _How is she not grilling him to find out more about those 'connections'?_ Logan was sure that if he'd been the one to give her some half-assed explanation like that, she would have continued to grill him until he'd shared every last detail. _Of course golden-boy Duncan Kane gets a pass, but I never do._

"She's with Celeste… and the nanny she hired. I'm not sure if you heard, but my parents filed for divorce a few months ago. My mom really wanted me home after that and pushed harder than she had been before to get everything resolved so that we could come back. Lilly and I are going to live with her... for a while anyway…"

While Logan was listening to Duncan, he was also watching Veronica carefully to gauge her reaction. He wondered if Duncan also knew about Jake and Lianne and just wasn't bringing it up. Logan noticed that Veronica's brow furrowed slightly and she bit on her bottom lip for a second before she spoke.

"Yeah… I heard about the divorce… have you… um… spoken to Jake lately?" Veronica asked with a concerned look on her face.

Duncan shook his head and looked at her with a slightly more serious expression than he'd had up to that point. "No… he's been out of town since we got back and we've been staying with Mom. I think he's coming back in a couple days though and I planned on seeing him then."

"Oh… well..." Veronica started, shooting a slightly anxious look in Logan's direction. "I um…" She paused and sucked in a deep breath. "He's planning to _marry_ my mom," she blurted out.

"What? Wow… no… wow… no one mentioned that since I've been back… I wonder if my mom even knows..." Duncan muttered with a look of complete surprise.

Veronica shrugged and gave him a pained smile. "Yeah… I don't know… I just found out a few days ago myself."

"Well… I mean… I guess we knew they'd had a _thing_ before… I just didn't realize… I didn't realize they still did after all these years."

"Yeah… that was news to me too," Veronica replied as her gaze fell to the beer bottle in her hand.

"Didn't you say something about being hungry when you walked in?" Duncan asked, clearly trying to move the topic away from their parents. "Why don't the three of us go out… my treat. I'm dying for some Cho's pizza. I can tell you both all about the last two years, and you guys can catch me up on what I've missed around here."

Veronica looked up at Duncan and gave him a fond smile. "Yeah… that sounds good…" She paused and turned to look at Logan as well. "What do you say, Logan?"

Logan was glad that he'd gotten good at acting over the years, even if he had no desire to ever follow his parents into show business. Those skills definitely came in handy at times like this. "Yeah… that sounds great," he responded with the best fake smile he could manage.

Duncan immediately stood up from the couch and offered his hand to Veronica to pull her up from her seat as well. Once she was on her feet, he pulled her into a quick embrace again.

"God, I've missed you… you _both_ so much," Duncan said as he glanced over Veronica's shoulder at Logan and gave him a warm smile as well.

Logan gave Duncan an acknowledging nod while he once again thought about how this was _definitely_ not how he'd wanted this night to go.

* * *

On the elevator ride down, Duncan had offered to drive them all to Cho's. When they'd reached the BMW SUV he was driving, Logan offered to sit in the back and opened the passenger door for Veronica. She'd given him a small smile and a soft thanks as he waited for her to climb in, and then he closed the door behind her. Duncan commented on how it was so strange to be driving through Neptune again after all these years. Then he went on to fondly reminisce about several places that they'd all hung out together as they made the drive from the Grand to Cho's.

After placing their order at the counter, the three of them made their way to a booth that had just opened up. Veronica was the first to slide in, with Duncan following her on the same side as she moved over to make space for another person. Logan sat down the tray of drinks he'd offered to carry and then slid in across from them. He couldn't help but think back to the countless times that the three of them—well, four with Lilly—had all been there. Sitting across from the pair of them made it even more poignant since they'd always ended up like that; Lilly on Logan's side, and Duncan and Veronica opposite them. He tried to push those thoughts out of his head because reminiscing about the four of them never had served him well.

Once they were all seated, Duncan immediately started in on sharing stories about some of the places that he and baby Lilly had stayed during the past two years while they were moving around to avoid the authorities. He pulled out a cell phone and handed it to Veronica so she could see some pictures he'd taken of the two of them. Logan watched her eyes light up as she commented about how adorable the baby was and how fast she was growing up. Logan tried not to react to the way Duncan leaned in as close as possible to Veronica as he described the scenes in the pictures in great detail. After Veronica had finished scrolling through the pictures, she held it out for Logan to take next. Logan took it, but was definitely not as interested in looking at them as Veronica had been. He quickly flipped through a couple before handing the phone back to Duncan. His mind was way to preoccupied with Duncan's continued close proximity to Veronica to pay much attention to the pictures. Every innocent shared smile and occasional bumping of shoulders seemed monumental to Logan. He tried his best to remind himself that once upon a time they'd all been the closest of friends and he and Veronica had been just as chummy millions of times when they were growing up. But it was still extremely unsettling, and he found himself getting lost in his own thoughts several times rather than keeping up with everything that was being said.

"Sorry... I've been totally monopolizing the conversation, haven't I?" Duncan commented after their pizza had been delivered. "I guess I haven't really talked much with people in so long. Well I've talked to Lilly of course, but those haven't been the most intellectually stimulating conversations. It's so amazing to be with real friends again."

Veronica chuckled softly and nodded as she gave him an understanding smile.

"So… what's happened with the two of you over the last two years?" Duncan asked as he looked expectantly between Logan and Veronica. "I mean… _separately_ of course… I didn't think... wait... you two aren't _together_ again are you?"

"Not at the _moment_ ," Logan found himself blurting out before he'd even realized what he was saying. Sitting there feeling like a third wheel on a date between Veronica and Duncan probably wasn't helping him in the being-diplomatic department. "We... uh… we _did_ get back together a couple of few times again after you left but we... um…" Logan floundered as he glanced at Duncan and then Veronica who didn't look terribly happy with him at all.

"We _had_ made plans to have dinner tonight, though," she commented as she narrowed her eyes slightly at Logan.

"Oh… sorry…" Duncan mumbled, looking a bit awkwardly at Logan and then Veronica.

"No… _you_ don't need to apologize," Veronica quickly replied; her expression looking slightly contrite. "It's not everyday that one of our oldest friends resurfaces after being gone for two years."

Duncan gave her a tender smile and reached out to squeeze her hand that she had resting on top of the table. "Well I'm extremely grateful that you two let me barge in on your plans because I meant it earlier when I said that I _really_ missed you both." He glanced over at Logan with an apologetic smile. "I was hoping I could talk Logan into going surfing with me soon," he continued as he released Veronica's hand and turned a bit more toward Logan. "Any chance you're free in the morning? I need to pick up some surfing gear, but I've been dying to get out on the water ever since I made it back to Neptune," he added with a hopeful look on his face.

Logan let out a sigh and nodded. He felt terrible that he had started to resent Duncan showing up given everything Duncan had been through during the past two years. "I have a class at one though, so I'll need to leave in time to make that, but I don't have early classes on Thursdays."

"Perfect," Duncan replied happily. "I guess I need to get used to people having actual schedules again. It certainly wasn't something that mattered much in the past two years. Of course I did quickly learn that keeping Lilly on a fairly consistent schedule made things easier. Speaking of her… I'd love for you both to meet her. You should both come over to our place soon… maybe tomorrow night?"

"Sorry," Veronica quickly replied. "I have a late shift at the library and several classes before that."

"Friday night?" Duncan asked with a touch of pleading in his tone. "The house Celeste recently bought has a pool and a state-of-the-art media room. Lilly loves playing in the water, and then after she goes to bed, we could all hang out and watch a movie, just like old times." He paused and gave Veronica a quick wink. "I'll even let _you_ pick out the movie."

Veronica laughed softly and nodded her head. "Sure. That sounds fun. You don't have plans, _right_ , Logan?" she asked as she turned and gave him a pointed look.

He could tell she still seemed annoyed at his earlier comment, although he really hadn't meant to piss her off with it. Of course that always seemed to be his default MO—saying or doing things that pissed her off when he never really meant to. "Nope," he replied with a placating smile. "Nothing going on Friday night at all. I'm sure it will be fun. I'd love to hang out with the two of you and meet Lilly as well." The approving smile she gave him, made him feel slightly better, although he still had the uneasy feeling that things were going to get even more complicated with Duncan back now.

* * *

After they finished eating, Duncan mentioned that he should probably head back to Lilly since he hadn't really been away from her for that long before. Veronica had suggested he just drop her and Logan off at the Grand's lobby so Duncan wouldn't have to deal with parking again. When they'd arrived, Duncan jumped out to give Veronica another hug and kiss on the cheek before he gave Logan a slightly awkward half-hug as well. After that he said a quick goodnight to them both and then hopped back in his car and drove off.

"I seem to recall the promise of Amy's in a text last night. Does that offer still stand?" Veronica asked Logan as Duncan pulled away from the curb.

Logan had forgotten that he'd suggested they go there after their dinner at Luigi's. He gave her a small half smile and nodded. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not that she didn't immediately leave after Duncan had. He tried telling himself that maybe it was a good sign, but deep down he was worried that she was going to have a change of heart about everything now that Duncan had returned. She'd certainly wasted no time in getting back together with Duncan once they'd broken up during the summer before senior year.

Veronica gave him a slightly perplexed look for a second before she spoke again. "You've been awfully quiet all night," she told him as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Well, other than clarifying that we _aren't_ currently together."

Logan let out a frustrated sigh and ran his hand nervously through his hair. "I'm sorry… this is just… I don't know…" He didn't want to say the wrong thing, but he was not at all happy that Duncan had chosen now to come back; not when Logan had thought that maybe the time was finally right to give it another try for the two of them.

"Do you _not_ want to get ice cream?" she asked, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"No.. I do… of course I do."

"Okay… do you want to walk or drive?" Veronica asked, still sounding upset with him.

"Either one is fine with me… you can decide."

"It's only a couple of blocks. We can walk," Veronica replied a bit tersely. She gave him a quick irritated look and then started walking in the direction of the ice cream shop.

Logan took a couple of quick strides to catch up with her and then fell in step, walking silently by her side. He couldn't help but feel like no matter what he said it was probably going to be the wrong thing; but as each second of silence ticked by, he was worried she was probably just getting more angry with him. Of course the thing he really wanted to ask would undoubtedly make things even worse.

"I still can't believe he's back," Veronica finally muttered, breaking the silence.

"Yeah… me too," Logan sighed. For a moment he longed for the silence again because at least not talking about it meant he could keep lying to himself that things hadn't completely changed the moment Duncan Kane walked back into their lives. He swallowed hard and knew he was going to regret what he was about to say, but he couldn't seem to stop himself either. "Can I ask you something?" he mumbled, chancing a quick glance in her direction before looking straight ahead again.

"Sure," she replied with what he thought sounded like a bit of uncertainty.

He looked at her again and could see the hesitance in her expression. He'd been trying to recall everything he could think of about how things were when Duncan had disappeared. His preoccupation with that had been one reason he'd been so quiet and withdrawn at Cho's. He of course could remember in vivid detail being an asshole to her when he ran into her at the Grand right before Duncan took off; one of many interactions he wished later he could take back. He'd also heard about their big fight at school—Dick had shared that with him in great detail—but knowing Veronica like he did and given how everything else ended up, he never exactly believed it was real. He also knew Duncan too well, and he wouldn't have been able to pull of vanishing like he did on his own. "Did you and Duncan break up before he left?"

Logan watched as Veronica's expression changed to look slightly surprised by his question. "Yeah… at school… before he disappeared," she replied with a little less conviction than he would have preferred to hear.

"Okay," Logan replied as he sucked in a quick breath and shifted his focus back to the sidewalk in front of him. He wished he could believe her, but deep in his gut he doubted that it was true based on the way she'd replied. _So if they didn't officially break up, what does that mean to Duncan? What does that mean to her?_

They walked in silence for about a minute before she spoke again. "He left and I never expected to see him again." Even though Logan didn't really believe that the fight at school had been genuine, he did believe that statement at least. It still didn't reveal how she felt about seeing Duncan now, though.

"Well, you seem happy that he's back," Logan replied, unable to not say it sullenly, but based on how she'd been acting all evening, he really didn't have a different opinion.

"Aren't you?" she asked, not bothering to contradict him.

Logan didn't mean to let out the bitter laugh that followed, but he'd been trying so hard to silence all the doubts and worries that had been screaming through his mind all evening that he finally reached his limit. "What do you _think_ , Veronica? He's always been the one you ultimately choose. I may not be a _momentary distraction_ , but I'm not Duncan Kane either." _Fuck!_ He let out a frustrated huff. He couldn't believe he'd just blurted that out. It took him a moment to realize she'd stopped walking, even though he hadn't. When he stopped and turned back toward her, the expression on her face was easy to read.

"I'm trying _really_ hard right now to be understanding, but you're certainly not making it very easy," she snapped at him. He'd seen her furious many times before, and if he were to rate the expression on her face, it was certainly near the top of the angry-Veronica-scale.

Logan took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he replied quickly, taking a step back toward her. "I don't know why I said that. It's just..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say to make it any better.

"You said it because that's how you really feel," Veronica commented as she stared indignantly at him.

Logan could tell she was still angry, but at least the bitterness in her tone had started to subside. He wasn't sure if she was asking it as a question or a statement, but he would guess it was more of the latter; regardless, he nodded and felt his chest tighten, worried about how she was going to react. He wasn't going to lie to her, not now, not after everything they'd already been through. But that didn't mean being honest would work out so well for him either.

She took a deep breath before she spoke again. "There were a lot of extenuating circumstances back then. But that was in the past, Logan. None of us are exactly the same people anymore."

"I know… and I _am_ sorry. Look, I promise I'm not going to be the same guy I was back then, either. I know I was an asshole when you went back to Duncan and I really am sorry. I can't change that now though. When I told you at Alterna-Prom that I was sorry about that summer, I meant how I acted about that too. You mean too much to me to lose you again… even if that means just being your friend."

Veronica let out a soft sigh and took a step to close the space between them. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed the side of her head against his chest. "I don't want to lose you again either," she said quietly. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly as he tipped his head down and rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"You won't… I promised I'd always be there for you and I always keep my promises," he assured her, hoping in his heart that he really could keep his word this time.

 _ **A/N - I can't wait to read everyone's responses to this little twist in the story! Please take a moment to share your thoughts.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm glad some of you enjoyed the twist in the last chapter. I really appreciate everyone's comments, even those who weren't thrilled about Duncan's return. Please take a minute to let me know what you think of this chapter too!_

 _As always, special thanks to Bondopoulos for always being such a fabulous beta!_

 _Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas._

Veronica looked down at the book in her hand, checking the numbers once again to find the spot where it belonged on the shelf. Usually she was pretty quick at getting all the books reshelved, but her mind kept wandering, causing her task to take twice as long as normal. She was definitely still in a state of disbelief that Duncan was back. She'd never expected him to return and had assumed that their farewell before she took baby Lilly to meet Astrid and Vinnie would be the last time she would ever see him. But now he was here—in Neptune—and from what she could tell, ready to pick back up the life he'd left behind.

Over pizza the night before, Duncan had mentioned that he might check into also applying at Hearst so he could stay close to his mom. Celeste apparently seemed to be all about Duncan and baby Lilly now; of course if she'd been that eager to play doting grandmother two years ago, Duncan would never have had to leave. Veronica imagined that he would still need to work out the minor detail of not actually graduating from high school, but she doubted that would be too difficult for him to resolve. She was certain that if the Kanes offered the right people the right incentive, they'd expedite getting that taken care of for them. Given the favoritism that seemed to exist for 09ers at Neptune High, Veronica wouldn't be surprised if the school would somehow magically determine that Duncan had enough credits to have already earned his diploma. The fact that Duncan had been able to come back to the US without any repercussions was proof of the kind of privilege the Kanes always received. She really hadn't expected Duncan to be able to return so easily. Of course her initial thoughts about it were formed before she'd stumbled upon the Castle and Jake Kane's ties to it.

And then there was Logan. Veronica wasn't terribly surprised he'd reacted the way he had, although she wished he hadn't. After their brief scene on the sidewalk, the two of them had kept their conversation light the rest of the way to Amy's and back. When Logan finally did talk a bit more, he seemed to go out of his way to come up with topics to discuss that were unrelated to Duncan. She was starting to dread the following evening, wondering how awkward that was going to end up with the three of them hanging out again.

Logan's question to her on the sidewalk had definitely caused her pause, and she couldn't help but wonder what Duncan was thinking about the same topic. _Did Duncan also question if we actually broke up?_ The fact that Duncan hadn't tried to meet alone with just her made her think he also assumed—despite it never being said explicitly—that his leaving was the end of their relationship. But he had made it clear the night before that he'd gone looking for her first before he'd ended up at the Grand. For the time being, though, believing that Duncan was on the same page as her was the easiest thing to do. Even though deep down she knew that avoidance wasn't really a great option, when she considered everything that had happened to her in the last week, dealing with all the implications of Duncan's return was the last thing she wanted to do.

After getting ice cream, Logan had walked her back to where she'd left her car in the parking garage at the Grand. She'd certainly expected their date to go much differently than it had when she'd first arrived and Logan was still acting uncomfortable when they'd finally reached her Saturn. She imagined it was likely due to his little outburst on the way to Amy's about her and Duncan. Things had seemed so much simpler—well as simple as it ever was between the two of them—when she'd been with him Saturday morning.

After they'd reached her car, she'd thanked him for still getting ice cream with her and then reached up on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. He'd given her such a heartbroken look after the kiss that it still made her ache to think about it. He'd taken a deep sullen breath before he leaned in and pressed a slow tender kiss to her forehead. After the kiss he'd opened her car door for her and asked if she'd text him to let him know that she'd made it home safely. Even though she could clearly see that he was feeling like his world was starting to fall apart again, she had also been too overwhelmed with uncertainty and confusion to find the strength to try to make it better for him. And sadly she was still feeling that way almost twenty-four hours later.

She finally spotted the right location, high on a top shelf, for the book she was holding and tried reaching up on her tiptoes to push it in. She'd almost gotten it high enough when a familiar voice sounded next to her.

"Need some help?" Logan asked softly as he took the book and easily slid it into it's spot.

"Where were you a half dozen books ago when I had to pull out one of the step ladders?" Veronica teased as she turned to smile at him.

"Probably picking up Luigi's," he replied as he unzipped his backpack slightly, letting the scent of Italian food waft out.

Veronica chuckled as she reached out to push the bag closed. "You know there's not supposed to be food in the library. I may have to confiscate that," she scolded, although she couldn't help grinning as she said it.

"That was sort of the idea," Logan replied, lips turned up in a smirk. "I thought you might be hungry when you got done with your shift and I figured some groveling might help make up a little for the shitty way I acted last night."

She let out a soft sigh and shook her head. "You weren't that bad… not considering the circumstances. But I'd never turn down apology food either."

"I can leave it in your car if that would be easier for you… I don't want to get you in trouble with the head crone—I mean librarian."

"What fun is staying out of trouble though?" she asked with a chuckle and sly grin. "Actually… I'm done in about twenty minutes if you wanted to hang out… grab a table in the courtyard or something?"

"I'd love that… I'll meet you out front in a little bit then?"

"Yeah… and if you were a _good_ boy and brought me some cannolis... I may even share with you."

"I'm always a _good_ boy," Logan replied with a wink before he turned and headed back toward the exit.

* * *

The anticipation of Luigi's seemed to help Veronica focus again, and she quickly finished up the rest of the reshelving that she needed to do before the end of her shift. She found Logan leaning against one of the pillars outside of the library waiting for her as she walked out of the building.

"Hey," he greeted with a warm smile that reached all the way to his eyes as she walked over to him. She was relieved to see a smile on his face again after how he'd been when she left him the night before. He even leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the temple. "Survived another day in that hellhole, I see," he teased after the kiss.

She chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, some days I'm barely able to handle all the _horrors_ that happen inside. Frequent showering seems to help."

"The _sacrifices_ you make just to help out the entire student body… I'm sure you don't hear this enough, but thanks for your dedication to ensuring that the dewey decimal system is strictly maintained."

"It's a brutal job, but someone has to do it," Veronica teased back as her gaze traveled to the backpack. "Of course it is nice to be recognized... and _rewarded_ for my efforts too."

Logan chuckled and lifted the backpack higher from where it was resting near his hip. "Hm… too bad I didn't have something to reward you with… I did until about ten minutes ago when I got hungry waiting and ate it all."

She laughed and shoved him playfully in the chest. "That would be an awfully _bold_ move, considering who you already promised that food to."

"Oh right…" Logan replied contemplatively. "Bold or stupid… given it's me, it's probably the latter."

Veronica rolled her eyes and shook her head at him.

"You mentioned the courtyard?" Logan continued with a smug grin as he reached out his hand for hers.

She glanced down at his outstretched hand before placing her hand in his and nodding in reply. Since it was fairly late in the evening, the courtyard near the library wasn't very crowded and several tables were unoccupied. Logan led Veronica over to one of the umbrella covered tables and pulled out one of the teak chairs for her to sit in. She gave him a grateful smile before sliding into the chair. Logan took a seat in the chair next to hers and started removing things from his backpack. In addition to the take out from Luigi's he also pulled a S'kist out of his bag for her. She was surprised it was only food for her once he was done.

"You're not eating?" she asked as she picked up the fork he'd set by the to-go box.

He shook his head as he opened the box for her. "No… I grabbed something earlier... I didn't know if you'd want to eat with me, so I'd really just planned on leaving it for you."

"Well, I do appreciate it," Veronica told him before taking a deep breath of the delicious aroma. " _Very_ much."

He gave her one of his bashful smiles that she easily recognized as him not really feeling he deserved praise for something but not wanting to argue about it either.

"It was a nice surprise," she added reassuringly before she took a bite of the manicotti he'd picked up for her. "Mmmm… a nice, _yummy_ surprise."

He chuckled softly and nodded. "Good… I um…" He paused a moment and she could tell he was feeling uncomfortable again. He cleared his throat before he continued. "I was thinking things over after you left last night… something you said about how we aren't the same people we used to be… And you're right… I definitely don't want to be the guy I used to be… and well, seeing Duncan again… I definitely hadn't been prepared for that and felt myself start to slip back into old habits."

Veronica furrowed her brow in concern, worrying over what he may have ended up doing after she'd left the Grand. He had sent a quick text back once she said she was home, so she hadn't worried that he was doing something bad at the time. Before she could ask exactly what he meant by old habits, he started talking again.

"But once I had a little time to think about everything… well, I don't know what Duncan's return means for you and me, but I know for certain that me acting like a jealous asshole definitely isn't going to help anything. So I'm not going to let it change the way I am with you." He paused again and gave her a soft smile. "And no matter what, Veronica, I really do want you to be happy. And if that means you and Duncan together again, I swear I won't act the way I did before. I meant it when I said I don't want to lose you… even if it means just having you as a friend. I've missed you too much over the past year and being able to spend time with you again… well, that's meant the world to me."

Veronica reached out and squeezed his hand that was resting on the table by hers. "Thank you. I know you aren't the same guy—and you being so open and honest—I really do appreciate it." She paused and took a deep breath before she continued. "I know I haven't been entirely forthcoming about how I've been feeling about all of this either. It's just a lot you know—with everything else—to have him show up now. I don't know… I never expected him to ever come back… but nothing ever seems to go as expected in Neptune."

"Hey," Logan said softly as he moved his other hand to rest on top of their other two that were already joined. "I know. I didn't mean to make you feel like you had to make any big decisions or declarations right now. I was worried before about how upset you were over your mom and Jake, and I thought taking things slow was the smart thing to do. I still believe that, Duncan or no Duncan. I really do want to be there for you… for whatever you need, okay?"

The loving way he was looking at her made her heart skip a beat and momentarily left her speechless. She didn't really trust herself to speak so she just nodded in reply and then leaned toward him so she could rest her head on his shoulder. She felt him take a deep breath and then he pressed his lips to her forehead.

"You'd better finish eating before it gets cold," he murmured before placing another kiss on the same spot and then leaning away a little.

She nodded and sat up straighter so she could resume eating, but didn't let go of his hand. He gently stroked his thumb across the back of her knuckles while he watched her eat. Eventually it made her a little self conscious.

"Did you want a bite?" she asked.

"No, but thanks for offering," he answered with a small smirk. "I know better than to take food from a hungry bobcat."

She chuckled and shook her head with a slightly admonishing look. "So…" she asked, her curiosity finally getting the better of her. "Did you go surfing this morning?" Veronica was relieved that he appeared to be amused rather than upset by her question.

"Yeah… _we_ did." When he didn't elaborate, she gave him a questioning look. His lip quirked up a little, obviously able to read her mind. "I didn't try to off my competition, if that's what you're worried about," he added.

She couldn't help but let out a soft huff. "It's not a _competition_ , Logan."

Logan's eyes widened at her words and he cocked his head slightly to the side. "Come on, Veronica. Do you _really_ believe that?" he asked and then paused for a moment. "I saw the way Duncan looked at you last night… you can't honestly think that he's not still in love with you."

Veronica was a little surprised. "It's been _two years_ , Logan. He doesn't really know me anymore."

"That may be true—and maybe he's still just in love with the Veronica he left behind—but even if you've changed some since then, fundamentally you're still you. The you that he loved. And trust me, I'm an expert at knowing how impossible it is to stop loving Veronica Mars once you do."

She felt her chest tighten at his comment. "If anyone can do the _impossible_ , it's you," she said, trying to deflect what he may have been implying. Of course she knew Logan still cared about her, but it was a little overwhelming to consider that he was actually still in love with her after all this time. Deflection seemed to be her unconscious reaction in times like this, even if deep down she knew it wasn't healthy.

He shook his head and gave her a loving smile. " _Never…_ that's one thing I'm positive I'll never do… no matter what happens, Veronica… I will _always_ love you."

She swallowed hard and felt tears well up in her eyes. He pulled his hand away from hers so he could gently cup the side of her cheek and run his thumb along her eye where a tear had slipped out.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I meant what I said earlier. I don't expect you to make any decisions now… and I've come to realize that my love for you is unconditional, okay—no matter what you do—even if we don't end up together… a part of me will always love you, Veronica… and I don't expect you to feel the same way, not after everything that's happened between us. I mean, I hope you give me another chance, but even if you don't... it's okay."

Veronica looked up and blinked her eyes to force her tears back. She hadn't expected dinner in the campus courtyard to lead to Logan professing his undying love for her. Though, now that he had, she realized that she probably shouldn't have been surprised, given his penchant for grand declarations.

"I really am sorry," he mumbled a few seconds later. He sounded more concerned and she imagined it was because she hadn't said anything in reply. "I didn't mean to upset you."

She shook her head and tried to give him a reassuring smile. "I'm not upset… surprised and maybe a little overwhelmed, but not upset."

"Okay… good," he said as he gave her a tender look. "I'm sure you didn't expect all that when you asked about surfing."

She smiled slightly and shook her head. "Yeah… I thought I'd get a wave report, not…" she paused and waved her hand around in the air, unsure what to say.

"Well the _waves_ were great," he continued with a small grin. "And like I said, I didn't try to drown Duncan."

Veronica narrowed her eyes slightly and gave him an admonishing look which made him chuckle slightly.

"I was on my _best_ behavior and we played together nicely," he shared before a slightly sheepish look formed on his face. "I may have slipped in at some point my hope that you and I would get back together though."

Veronica was a little surprised he'd gone there, but she was also curious about Duncan's reaction. "And how did he respond to that?"

Logan shrugged and glanced down at the table for a moment before meeting her eyes again. "Well he didn't get irate or anything. I guess if anything he may have seemed a little disappointed, but he changed the subject pretty quickly."

Veronica couldn't help but think back to the night in high school when Aaron had surprised them with a large group of 09ers at the Echolls' mansion. She'd heard later about Duncan trashing his car and Meg getting a ride home with someone else. Duncan didn't always have a clear head when it came to her being with Logan.

"Well at least the waves were _great_ ," she reminded him with a small grin.

Logan laughed softly at her and nodded. She'd just finished off the manicotti, so he opened the container of cannolis. She gave him a broad smile as she pulled one out and held it up toward his mouth.

"I think you've been good enough to deserve at least one bite," she teased. He gave her a mischievous grin before he opened his mouth and bit off a large piece. "Hey now!" she protested as she pulled the remaining portion away and took a bite herself.

He was laughing while he chewed and swallowed it. "Sorry, but I figured that was likely the only bite I'd get."

She scowled at him as she swallowed the more reasonable bite she'd taken. "Well you can be certain of that _now_ , mister," she scolded light heartedly. He smiled and nodded in agreement.

"You've got some… powdered sugar," he started as he pointed toward the side of her mouth. She couldn't help slowly licking where he had indicated. He let out a slow exhale and cleared his throat. "Yeah… you got it," he confirmed, sounding a bit more strained than before.

She bit on the edge of her lower lip and smiled at him. She'd always loved turning him on and teasing him a bit, although she realized right now that wasn't really fair. "Sorry," she replied a little deviously.

"Doubtful," he countered with a wink. She shrugged and laughed softly before taking another bite of the delicious dessert.

"Walk me to my car?" Veronica asked when she had finished off the last cannoli.

"Of course," Logan replied as he started to help her clean up the empty containers.

After they had thrown everything away, Veronica wrapped her arm around his waist. He reciprocated, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, and then led her toward where she was parked. She was a little surprised that Logan seemed to know where she'd left her car. She'd avoided the parking garage ever since her attack there, opting for a slightly out-of-the-way lot with an open layout that had more foot traffic. Neither of them had ever had any classes on that end of campus, so she hadn't expected him to know she'd parked there.

"I take it you already saw where I'm parked?" she asked as they continued walking in that direction.

" _Perhaps_ ," Logan replied smugly. They walked a few more minutes in companionable silence, before Logan spoke again. "I'm thinking of moving out of the Grand."

"Oh, really?" she responded, not expecting that at all.

"Yeah. I guess the fact that I am still living there after all this time… I don't know… it seems sort of irresponsible really."

"Logan, don't do it just because of something Duncan said, or the fact that he's back."

"It's not… I've been thinking about it ever since Dick left. _Maybe_ Duncan being back has been a motivator, but he's not the only reason."

"Okay… if that's what you really want… where would you go?" she asked, wondering what his plan actually was.

"Someplace near the beach would be nice… something homey—not too pretentious."

"Of course, who would want _pretentious_?" she replied in as snobbish of a tone as she could manage.

He laughed and shook his head at her. "When I was waiting to meet Duncan by Dog Beach this morning, I drove around a few of the neighborhoods and scoped out a few places to check out. I was wondering… if you have time on Saturday morning… a few were having open houses this weekend and I thought maybe you could come along… give me your opinion… but only if you're free."

She was definitely caught off guard by his request, but part of her was flattered that he wanted her opinion. She kinda liked babbling Logan—nervous Logan. Before she could even answer, he was talking again.

"I know we are supposed to go out for dinner Saturday night… well, I hope we still are… so if you'd rather not spend time with me earlier in the day too, that's fine. I just thought it would be nice to get your advice, but don't feel bad if you don't want to go."

She couldn't help but laugh at him at that point. "I'd love to go, Logan, it sounds fun."

"Okay, great," he replied, sounding relieved as they finally reached her car. She smiled when she noticed that he'd parked right next to her.

"So… thanks again for dinner. I really appreciated it," she said as she unlocked her Saturn.

"Yeah, of course," he paused and gave her another anxious look. "So tomorrow—if you want—I could pick you up to drive over to Duncan's… unless that would be too weird."

Veronica imagined Duncan's reaction to them arriving together may not be the best, but at that point she wasn't sure that she cared. She really did hope that at a minimum the three of them could still figure out how to all be friends. "Sure… that would be great," she replied, earning a more relaxed smile from Logan. She couldn't help but notice how completely different things felt between them now compared to the night before. She almost hated to leave, but she had an early class and needed to get a little bit of homework done as well. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow," she added with a bit more longing than she'd intended to let slip out.

He nodded and took a step closer, tipping his head down slightly, but keeping a little space between them. "Have a good night, Veronica," he said softly as he stared intently into her eyes.

She nodded her head as well and then bit on her lip for a moment. Her mind immediately flashed back to how amazing it had felt kissing him on Saturday. If Duncan hadn't shown up yesterday, she surely would have spent even more time kissing him then too. He was still standing close enough that they could have easily kissed, yet he was not making the first move. The temptation was just too great and she finally let herself lean toward him so she could press her lips against his. The kiss was fairly chaste, but when he reached up and gently stroked her chin as they kissed, a tingle spread through her body

"You should probably go," he said with a strained breathless tone when their lips parted.

She nodded and gave him a coy grin. "I probably _should_ … but I really don't want to yet," she replied as she leaned up toward him again and gently bumped her nose against his.

"Well I'd hate to make you do something you don't want to do," Logan replied, his voice husky as his lips barely grazed hers.

She let out a deep sigh and then used her hands so she could pull his head down closer to hers. He gladly complied, and a second later, they were kissing again. Just as she was about to deepen the kiss even more, a car's headlights shown across them as she heard what must have been another student pulling out of the lot. Logan pulled back and closed his eyes for a second before he spoke. "I think the evening class in the adjacent building just let out and as much as I'd love to just stand here and kiss you, I don't know that we want to have that many onlookers."

Veronica sucked in a steadying breath and nodded. "You're right.. I'd better go… but I'll see you tomorrow."

Logan nodded and carefully opened her door for her. She tossed her backpack into the car and then leaned up to give him one more quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks again, Logan."

He nodded in reply and then closed the door for her and gave her a small wave. He stood there watching until she'd backed out and then she saw him go over and climb into his own car. She was certainly relieved that tonight had ended a thousand times better than the night before.

* * *

As soon as Veronica arrived home, she took Backup for a quick walk. Even though Wallace had stopped by earlier to take him out, Backup still wagged his tail happily and did circles around her legs as soon as she'd walked in the door, eagerly anticipating being able to go out with her. With her busy schedule, and Keith frequently being out of town, she was grateful that Wallace was always happy to help her with Backup. Wallace had texted her earlier that they'd taken a lengthy run, so, Veronica kept their walk shorter than usual so she could get back to do homework. Her impromptu dinner with Logan had squeezed her studying time, but she didn't regret it at all.

She'd just finished filling Backup's bowl with water after their walk when she heard a soft knock on the door. A sly smile spread across her face as she sat the bowl down and turned toward the door. She wasn't terribly surprised that Logan may have had second thoughts about sending her home alone after their interrupted makeout session in the parking lot. She quickly assessed just how much work she absolutely needed to get done before the morning and how much she could squeeze in between her classes the next day.

Her smile faltered when she realized it wasn't Logan at the door.

"Hey, Duncan" she said a little hesitantly as she opened the door.

"Hi… sorry to drop by unannounced but—"

His explanation was cut short by an aggressive bark from Backup.

"Chill, Backup!" Veronica commanded. The dog let out a low angry growl as he moved over to Veronica's side. "Sorry," Veronica apologized as she grabbed Backup's collar. She could tell the dog was agitated by Duncan and it was too much effort to deal with him at the moment. "I'll just put him in my room. Come in and I'll be right back."

Duncan acknowledged her with a nod before she turned and headed down the hallway. Veronica scolded Backup slightly before closing him in her room and then returned to the front of the apartment. She found Duncan standing in front of the now closed front door. "You can have a seat if you want," she told him as she gestured toward the couch.

"Thanks… like I was saying, I'm sorry to just drop by unannounced," he started as he took a seat on one end of the couch.

Veronica took a seat a few feet away from him and shook her head. "It's fine," she told him with a reassuring smile. "I'm just not quite used to you really being back," she confessed honestly.

He let out a soft chuckle. "Me either. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to be back. But it's definitely strange after being gone all of this time."

"Is everything going okay with Lilly adjusting to being here?" Veronica asked genuinely curious.

"Oh yeah… she was a little shy the first day or two that we were back, but for whatever reason, she's really warmed up to Celeste. It's sort of crazy, really. It's almost like my mom's a different person now. I don't know… maybe me leaving had a much bigger impact on her than I'd ever expected. That or the divorce, I'm not really sure. But whatever it is, this seems to be a much kinder and loving version of her than I ever remember before. It's almost a little eerie."

Veronica let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, I don't remember ever hearing those two adjectives used to describe Celeste before."

Duncan laughed for a second as well and then gave her a more serious look. "I um… I actually stopped by so I could get a chance to talk to you alone. I figured tomorrow when you come by, Logan will be there too… and well, I just wanted a chance for the two of us to talk."

Veronica couldn't help but think back to Logan's comments earlier and immediately felt a bit uneasy. "Look, Duncan—"

"I wanted to thank you… for everything you did for us," he interrupted before she could continue.

She was relieved that was what he wanted to talk about, but felt a little foolish that she was assuming something else. Of course Logan would jump to the conclusion that there was something more given her past with Duncan.

"I didn't think I should bring all of that up in front of Logan. I mean… I know you two did date again after I left, but I didn't think you would have told him about helping me and Lilly disappear. Or am I wrong about that?"

Veronica shook her head. She couldn't help but think about how she'd expected Logan to reveal all of his secrets, but she'd never really shared her own. Of course at the time she hadn't even considered admitting to him what she'd helped Duncan do. She suddenly realized how hypocritical it was for her to keep that major secret from him, but had expected him to tell her every single one of his.

"So that's why I thought I'd stop by tonight. I wanted to say something about it last night, but I didn't really get the chance to with him there. I know I said I was grateful when I left, but now… after having the chance to raise Lilly, even if it was sometimes tough being on my own… I wouldn't have changed that for anything. I— _we_ owe that all to you."

"I'm glad it all worked out for you… that nothing went wrong," she replied with a fond smile. She really was happy that they'd been able to keep the baby away from Meg's horrible parents. After seeing how terribly they'd treated poor little Grace she could completely understand Meg's plea to save her from them. That was the main reason she'd risked so much to help Duncan flee with Lilly.

"My only regret through all of it was having to leave you," Duncan continued, looking more intently at her than he had been a moment before.

"Oh… well…" Veronica stammered out. She shifted a bit uncomfortably on the couch, suddenly thinking about Logan's comments again.

"I never expected that you would wait for me to return or anything like that," he quickly added perhaps sensing her sudden uneasiness. She was actually relieved to hear him say that since they hadn't clarified that they were breaking up before he left. "I wasn't sure I'd actually ever get to come back. But now that I have—since I have the chance—I just wanted you to know that. You'll always have a special place in my heart, Veronica… for all that we shared and for everything that you risked for me and Lilly. You were the only one who loved me enough to help me do what was right for my daughter. And even though you weren't with us, knowing that you loved me that much helped me through some of the darker times. It also gave me a reason to hold out hope that I'd be able to come back home some day."

Veronica wasn't sure exactly what to say, and before she could come up with a suitable response, Duncan started talking again.

"Look… I know you and Logan went through some rocky stuff after I left—and after having front row seats to the on-and-off toxic rollercoaster that was Logan and my sister—well, I don't want to see you go through the same thing. You deserve better than that, Veronica. I still love you, and after giving up everything and now having a chance to come back, I don't want to just sit back and wait for you and Logan to fall apart again if you two are getting back together. I realize that this is a lot to dump on you… but I wanted to be completely honest with you about how I felt. I promise if you give me a chance, I won't let you down."

"I um…" Veronica stammered out. She hadn't expected Duncan to say any of that, and suddenly realized that Logan had been right. But then something Duncan had just said hit her. "How did you _know_ thatLogan and I _went through some rocky stuff_? Did Logan tell you that?"

"No… not exactly. After we finished surfing this morning and Logan left for class, I ran into Dick at the beach. He filled me in on a lot of stuff that happened while I was gone."

"Oh…" Veronica sighed. She couldn't even imagine everything that Dick may have shared with Duncan. But knowing Dick, it was probably heavily exaggerated and not good.

"I know this is a lot to digest. And I'm not asking for an answer right now. But will you at least think about it? Think about what a future with me and Lilly could be like? I know you loved me when I left, otherwise you never would have risked your future for us. And I still love you as much as I ever did. Things between us have always worked so well and been so solid."

"Duncan…" Veronica stuttered reluctantly. "I—"

Duncan cut her off before she could say anything else. "Just think about it, okay? Maybe you'll decide Logan is who you want to be with, and I'll… I'll accept that. But maybe you'll realize how great we could be together again. I'd never do anything like… like Mad—well, like Logan did. We have a second chance now and I don't want to waste any more time waiting. We've already lost two years, but I'm home now and we can be together again, just like we were before." He paused and looked at her with a smile that she could only interpret as him assuming she'd make what he thought was the right decision and choose him. "I'd better get back now, though. I'll talk to you tomorrow." And with that, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek before standing and heading out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

_I apologize that this chapter took a bit longer to post than the prior three. I was traveling last week for work and that ate up a lot of my time. Hopefully the next chapter will not be too delayed by Thanksgiving. Although I can tease that I have a chapter of Marshmallows and Moonlight in the process of being beta'd, so I'm sure that will make many of you very happy! Please take a minute to let me know what you think of this chapter. I really do appreciate all the reviews and everyone who reads all of my stories._

 _And as always, special thanks to Bondopoulos for always being such a wonderful beta!_

 _Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas._

Logan let out a frustrated sigh as he impatiently waited for the elevator to finally reach the top floor. At least he didn't have to share the small space long with the overly affectionate pair that had gotten on with him at the lobby; to add insult to injury, they had resembled Duncan and Veronica. Although at that point he wondered if he would have found some small similarity regardless of what the couple had looked like. Logan kept trying to focus on the positive things from earlier in the evening and not let himself dwell on his own insecurities, but he was definitely struggling to do that.

After their farewell by Veronica's car had been cut short, Logan headed back to the Grand. He'd been thinking about her the entire drive there, and when he pulled into the parking garage he realized that he had forgotten to return the necklace that she'd left at his place Saturday. Even though he could have waited until the next day to return it, he foolishly talked himself into using it as an excuse to go over to see her. Part of him knew it wasn't the greatest idea, but the part of him that hadn't wanted the evening to end yet had taken over, and so he found himself pulling into her parking lot a short while later. He'd been so wrapped up in his thoughts of Veronica that he hadn't even noticed the rather out of place BMW until after he spotted Duncan turning the corner into the complex. Logan had sat in his car for a few minutes, debating whether he should leave or intrude on the two of them. Ultimately he'd decided he didn't want to end up acting like a jealous asshole again, so he'd left.

Now, as he rode the elevator to the top floor, Logan couldn't help but wonder if Veronica had known Duncan would be stopping by to see her when she'd been with him earlier. The rational part of his brain believed that she wouldn't have acted the way she had if she was planning to meet up with Duncan later. He hated that having Duncan around was making him so insecure. He'd been trying to straighten his life out by being more mature and responsible, but Duncan's return was not making that easy. While some of the motivation for him trying hard to change had been because he'd wanted to be a better man for Veronica, he'd also wanted to do it for himself. He wasn't actually even sure before this week that he'd ever have another chance to be with her. But now that Duncan had returned, Logan felt himself teetering at the edge of reverting back to some of his bad behavior so many times, and it had only been a little over twenty-four hours since Duncan had resurfaced. Logan's first instinct, when he finally made it into the penthouse, was to pour himself a large glass of scotch and drink away his anxiety. He'd gotten as far as pulling out a bottle of Glenlivet and a glass tumbler before he stopped himself. Logan quickly redirected himself to his bedroom where he promptly changed into workout clothes and then headed down to the hotel gym.

By the time he made it back to his suite, he was exhausted from an overzealous workout. He hadn't been able to totally eliminate how he felt about Duncan going to visit Veronica, but at least the physical exertion had brought it down a few notches. After taking a long hot shower and slipping into a pair of boxers, he'd headed out to the main room to get a bottle of water and ended up staring at the scotch again. He finally decided one drink wouldn't hurt and it might help him fall asleep. He poured himself a glass of the Glenlivet before also grabbing a bottle of water and headed back to the bedroom with both. After one sip of the scotch, he realized what a bad idea that really was and internally chastised himself. He had consciously cut back his drinking and he was determined not to let Duncan's return drive him back to being reckless again. He finally climbed into bed, hoping he'd be able to fall asleep and not obsess anymore about what the next day may bring.

One of the downsides of living at the hotel was the occasional annoyance of hearing other guests coming and going. Several times in the past couple of years Logan had even thought he'd heard someone opening and closing the door to his own suite when it was actually one of the adjacent suites instead. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, but it hadn't felt like very long when the sound of a door closing woke him up. He readjusted his pillow and thought about how that certainly would not be something he'd miss when he got a place of his own. He'd just closed his eyes to try to fall back asleep when he felt his bed shift slightly, causing him to immediately jerk upright in bed.

A soft 'sorry' suddenly filled the very quiet room.

"Veronica?" Logan mumbled in a sleepy daze, wondering if he was just imaging her there. He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on the figure that he was pretty sure was really sitting there near him.

"I didn't mean to startle you… I was hoping you were still up, but I didn't want to wake you if you weren't, so I just used the card key that I still have," she explained in a sort of quiet rambling way.

Logan was finally able to focus a bit better, and with the soft glow from the wall fixture above his headboard, he thought she looked upset. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked as he tried to think of why Veronica would be coming to see him in the middle of the night. Suddenly a terrible sinking feeling hit him. "Did Duncan do something to you? Did he hurt you?" He'd never forgotten the day that he'd witnessed one of Duncan's episodes, and if he was still having those and had hurt Veronica, Logan wouldn't only be furious with Duncan but at himself for leaving her alone with him.

"What?" Veronica asked, seeming surprised by the question. "No… wait... why would you think that?"

Logan blew out a deep breath and ran his hand over his face. "I um..." he mumbled. _No lying, Logan; that never works out well for you_. "I stopped by earlier to see you… and saw him headed toward your apartment."

"Oh," Veronica replied and then paused for a few seconds. "Yeah, he stopped by, but he didn't hurt me."

"Okay…" Logan responded hesitantly as he continued to wonder what was going on. He couldn't shake the sinking feeling that something bad was coming. _Is she here to tell me she changed her mind about us after Duncan finally had a chance to talk to her alone? Weren't you expecting this to happen?_

"You um… you were right... about how Duncan still feels about me," Veronica continued. Logan could tell by her tone and the way she was fiddling with the sheets that she must have felt uncomfortable admitting that to him.

Logan let out a deep sigh and nodded. He wasn't surprised at all given what he'd seen from Duncan so far. He wondered if she'd realized she was still in love with Duncan as well after talking with him alone. _Don't kid yourself; if Duncan hadn't fled with his baby, they'd probably still be together. There's no way she would have ever come back to me._

"After he left tonight, I started thinking about everything that had happened between us… _all_ of us. I guess I'd been trying not to because I didn't want to deal with it on top of my mom and Jake, but with your confession this evening, and his as well, I couldn't just keep avoiding it."

Logan sucked in a shaky breath and nodded again in understanding. _Duncan must have told her that he still loves her too._ His chest felt painfully tight and he couldn't help but feel like he was back in one of the same terrible moments with her that had happened before in this very bedroom—the night he'd had to tell her the truth about the fire in Mexico, or when she'd confronted him about Madison, or when she told him he was out of her life forever. Every single one of those had happened here and now he felt like this one would probably be the last. He couldn't imagine her ever leaving Duncan again now that he was finally home and had obviously told her he still loved her.

"I'm sorry for barging in on you in the middle of the night, but I couldn't sleep and I just really wanted to see you and I… I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to talk."

"It's okay," Logan mumbled as reassuringly as he could, although he wasn't really convinced that it was okay at all. At least in the dim light of the room, even though she was looking at him, he hoped she couldn't actually see the real emotions he was feeling.

"It's just… talking to Duncan tonight made me think about mistakes I've made too."

Logan swallowed the lump he felt rising in his throat. He was certain that he was probably one of those mistakes in her mind. He'd certainly messed things up more times than he'd gotten them right with her.

"I um…" she started and then paused, taking a steadying breath. She'd been looking in his direction until that point, but finally shifted her focus down to her lap. "I know I held you to a much tougher standard than I held myself to. Expecting you to always be honest with me when I kept things from you. And that wasn't fair of me at all." She paused again and shook her head slightly. "Even Wednesday… when you asked… I lied to you and felt terrible, but I still did it."

Logan hadn't expected the conversation to take this turn, and it took him a few seconds to process what she'd just told him. She really did sound regretful, but he couldn't quite figure out exactly what that meant for where things were going next. He'd just opened his mouth to at least assure her that it was okay, when she abruptly cut him off.

"I helped him," Veronica blurted out suddenly.

It took another second for that to sink in, but at least Logan was grateful for the pause in conversation. It gave him a chance to piece together what she'd said the night before that connected back to what she'd just said—about her and Duncan breaking up. "I um… I sort of figured that," Logan told her a little hesitantly. He still wasn't sure exactly where she was headed with all of this. _Does that mean they never actually broke up?_

"You did?" she replied as she looked up at him again.

He couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle at her apparent surprise and his lip curved up into a small half-grin. "Come on, Donut was never a criminal mastermind. I always assumed you'd helped him leave. You've always helped the people you love Veronica, so I never really doubted you'd helped him."

"I've helped _you_ too," she mumbled softly.

"I know," he replied, slightly thrown off by her response.

She let out a frustrated sigh and he couldn't help but feel like he was missing something she expected him to say. Maybe she'd been expecting him to thank her for all the times she'd saved his ass instead of just acknowledging it. Maybe that was her way of breaking things to him gently—remind him of the good things she'd done so he wouldn't take it so hard when she told him she'd chosen Duncan over him. He was trying to figure out what to say, when Veronica scooted closer to him on the bed.

"I've helped you because I _love_ you, Logan," she explained, sounding more shy than frustrated now. "And I'm here now because I love _you_." Veronica let out a soft laugh before she continued. "I should have told you that earlier when you told me, but I've never been good at being honest when it really matters." She laughed a little sadly as she shook her head. "I should have told you that when you asked if I cared if you dated Parker… things would have been so different then."

Logan's mind was spinning, trying to connect everything she was saying. He wanted to believe the answer he was coming up with, but the skeptic in him just wouldn't allow it. "So you're not here to tell me you're getting back together with Duncan?" he asked, realizing how stupid it sounded as it left his mouth.

She laughed louder and shook her head as she reached up and put her hand on his cheek. "No… I love _you_ , Logan. I'm here because I want us to be together again. I don't want there to be any confusion about that. You're the one I love… you're the one I want… this isn't some impulsive reaction to Jake and Lianne… or to Duncan being home. I don't really know how to convince you of that besides just saying it, but it's true. And I don't want to wait any longer to be with you, even if you think taking things slow is—"

Logan cut her off by pressing his lips to hers. Slow had sounded good in his head a week ago— even earlier he still seemed to be able to convince himself that it was the best choice—but now, with her showing up in the middle of the night in his bedroom to tell him she still loved him, all he wanted was her. He could feel her smile against his lips and a second later she was moving, closing the space between them. His body seemed to just fall right back into the same rhythm with hers and he effortlessly helped her adjust so she could straddle his lap. His fingers instinctively moved to her hips, as muscle memory of her on top of him started to take over.

She broke the kiss first, leaning back slightly and giving him a sensually wicked grin. She unzipped the hoodie she was wearing and slipped it off her shoulders, leaving her in only a light pink tanktop and what he now realized were flannel pajama bottoms. He was a little surprised—and definitely a lot turned on—that she'd come all this way to see him in just her pajamas. He released her hips and slid his hands up toward her waist, his fingertips grazing across the warm skin right below the edge of her tanktop. Her smile never wavered as she reached down and pulled her tanktop off next, her long golden locks falling back in soft waves over her bare shoulders as her arms came back down.

Logan sucked in a steadying breath as he drank in the sight of her. "Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked feebly, trying one last time to be the noble gentleman he'd been so sure that he should be.

"Yes," she whispered, desire unmistakeable in her tone. "I want this… I want you," she breathed softly while she leaned closer to him. As her lips found his again, he felt her warm naked breasts press against his chest and all coherent thoughts slipped away.

Logan tried not to rush things, savoring every touch and sensation. Although in their current position, with the way she kept writhing on top of him—even still half clothed—he knew he wasn't going to stay composed for long. Her riding him was definitely one of his favorite positions, and focusing on that would ensure this wasn't going to last as long as he wanted it to. He effortlessly lifted her off his lap and laid her down on her back, continuing to kiss her as they moved. He could feel her wiggling to try to slip off her pajama bottoms, and he shifted off of her so he could help. Even with the limited lighting in his room, he could see the desire in her eyes as he slid away from her. He placed kisses on her taught stomach as his hands pushed the soft flannel material down her hips. He could hear her take small gasps of breath as he moved lower so that he could push her pajamas completely off. It was easy for him to tell exactly what she wanted from the way she reacted as his mouth had moved lower and he was more than willing to acquiesce. He felt his own pulse quicken listening to the way she was panting and muttering out strained incoherent affirmations while begging him not to stop. The sound she made as he pushed her over the edge nearly set him off as well and he took a few seconds to compose himself before he kissed his way back up her body. He really did want to make this last as long as humanly possible.

"God, I've missed you," she panted when she finally spoke again.

"You have no idea how many times I thought of you Veronica. Of how much I missed you… needed you," he confessed with a reverent tone to his voice. "Losing you hurt me more than anything in my life ever has. I always feel like there's a piece of me missing when we're not together."

Veronica gave him a loving smile as she ran her fingers through his hair and stared up at him. "We're together now," she breathed softly. "And I need you too… so much Logan."

Logan closed his eyes and kissed her passionately. She'd always been the one woman who he felt truly connected to. It had always been deeper than just a physical connection with Veronica. He could never seem to really verbalize that to her—it was hard enough for him to even fully comprehend—but he believed with all his heart that she was the only one he'd ever love this way. His resonant thoughts were interrupted by the feel of Veronica pushing down his boxers. He couldn't help but smile against her lips before breaking the kiss.

"We can wait…" he mumbled out, still haunted by the uneasy feeling that when they moved too quickly in the past things had inevitably crumbled around them.

"No," Veronica replied as she shook her head slightly. "I don't want to wait… I just want you. Please…" she paused and sucked in a steadying breath. "I love you… please show me how much you love me too."

Logan inhaled and nodded in reply. He knew he was helpless to resist her when she looked at him the way she was. He kissed her again as he shifted so he could slip out of his boxers, moaning softly when he pressed back up against her warm naked body. He was determined to show her just how much he did love her in ways that words could never quite seem to convey for the two of them. And as her wandering hands started to ardently stroke him, he knew his ability to actually form coherent comments was quickly slipping away.

* * *

Veronica lazily ran her fingers against Logan's scalp while she stared blissfully at the odd patterns of light that were projected onto his ceiling from the light fixture above his headboard. He'd wrapped one of his arms around her waist and his head was nuzzled against her neck where she felt him intermittently place soft kisses. She could have easily dozed off at any second since her entire body was so relaxed after their very exuberant reunion, but she had school to take into consideration. "I really don't want to go… but I've got an early class," she started to explain. Even she could hear the lack of conviction in her tone.

Veronica heard Logan start to mumble a disagreeing objection. "I'll set an early alarm," he countered as his hand slipped down from her waist to her hip with a slightly tighter grip than he'd had a second before. She wondered if he'd been about to fall asleep as well based on his groggy sounding objection. He'd certainly exerted more than his fair share of energy during the mind-blowing reunion sex that they'd just had. She hated to think back to his flip comment about his code word being 'endurance' given the circumstances at that time, but it definitely still fit.

"Well… only if it's not _too_ much trouble for you," she replied, most definitely exaggerating her concern about inconveniencing him.

He laughed and placed a slow kiss on her shoulder, obviously amused by her antics. He rolled away from her and reached for his phone on the nightstand next to his bed. "Five?" he asked, causing her to give him a disapproving groan. He chuckled softly before he suggested six. She nodded her approval, and a moment later he was snuggling back up against her, pulling the sheet over the top of them as he did.

"So…" he started a tad hesitantly, which made her a little concerned about what he was going to say next. "I was wondering if we need a strategy for dealing with Duncan tomorrow? I can't stop thinking about him having another episode if he gets upset. I mean... his condition wasn't something you just get over, right?"

"Well… I think the medication he takes—was taking—helped control that. I would think he's still taking something. I know he didn't have any episodes during senior year before he left," Veronica replied, thinking back to their time together before Duncan fled with the baby.

"Yeah… but he had _you_ then," Logan said with a soft sigh. "He um… he trashed his car the night he found out we were dating the first time and I don't think he even remembered doing it. I guess Enbom found him out on the lawn staring at his car—totally out of it—and he gave him a ride home. I just… I still can't forget him attacking Jake that day… and if he ever… if he ever tried to hurt you…" Logan trailed off as he squeezed her a little tighter.

"Jake didn't have Mr. Sparky," Veronica quipped as she shifted so she could see Logan's face better. She gave him a sly grin. She'd worried a little bit about Duncan's condition when they came up with the plan for him to leave with the baby, but he'd seemed completely stable for the months that they were together, so she had hoped that he'd be fine. She tried to remind herself that Logan's concern was probably reasonable given what he'd seen from Duncan before, but she still felt like he was overreacting a little. Of course Logan's unwavering desire to protect her was no secret and while it may have caused issues for them in the past, she didn't want to let it get in the way of things this time.

The faintest smile ghosted across Logan's lips, and she wondered if it was due to the thought of her actually tasering Duncan. "That does give me a little peace of mind," Logan replied with a hint of sarcasm slipping through.

"Look… you're probably right that we should be a little careful until we figure out where his head is now. Neither of us have spent a whole lot of time with him yet, to know how he really is these days. I certainly don't want to hide that we're back together from him—or anyone—but I guess letting him know gently might be better than you having your way with me on Celeste's dining room table… although that might be a little fun too." She couldn't help the devious grin that spread across her face as she finished talking.

The faint smile that was on Logan's lips grew a bit more and he shook his head slightly. "Yeah… I'm thinking if we did that, we likely wouldn't be asked back again."

She gave him a look that clearly indicated she wasn't sure if that was really a bad thing. Logan laughed a little and then pressed a kiss to her lips. "He did... um," she started off a little hesitantly after the kiss. "He did say tonight that if I chose you, he'd accept that. So it's not as if the two of us being together now would be as large of a shock as it was back in high school. I'm sure that was a shock to most of the student body."

"I'd say _all_ of the student body," Logan added with a smirk.

Veronica laughed softly and nodded in agreement. "Yeah… I'm sure you're right. We certainly hadn't been voted most likely to hook up back then."

"I never did like doing what was expected of me," Logan countered.

Veronica laughed and nodded her head in agreement. "Always a rebel."

"Not so much a rebel these days though," he commented as he shifted so he could place kisses along her jaw line.

"Don't think I didn't notice that you tasted like scotch earlier," Veronica mused as she tried not to lose focus. He really was quite skilled when it came to knowing just where to kiss her to have maximum impact.

Much to her chagrin, he stopped kissing her and pushed himself up on his elbow so he could see her better. "I swear I only had one sip and then decided it was a bad idea," he told her with a very sincere tone.

"Hey, I'm not the abstinence police or anything. It's not that big of a deal even if it was more than one sip, okay?" She suddenly felt terrible that she had put him on the defensive especially given the state she was in the last time she'd been there in his bedroom with him. She'd only been kidding about the scotch and hadn't expected that reaction at all.

"It's just… I don't want you to see me as that fucked up, reckless jackass that I used to be."

"Logan," she said reassuringly as she reached up and stroked his cheek. "I told you before, I know you're not that person anymore. I know you've changed and I'm really proud of you for that. Even if I may have kept my distance earlier this year, that doesn't mean that I haven't been keeping a few tabs on you. I am still me after all." By the puzzled look on his face, she could tell that surprised him. "What? Can't a girl obsess a little bit about her ex?"

"No… It's just," he mumbled as he shook his head slightly. "I just never would have expected you to care enough to do that."

Veronica let out an amused huff. "Of course I cared. I know I suck at being transparent with how I feel about things, but I never stopped caring—even when I was furious at you."

"I wish I'd known," Logan said softly as he shifted back onto his side and stroked her hair. "I thought it was best to just stay out of your orbit so I didn't piss you off even more. But it took every ounce of my strength to actually be able to do that. You have no idea how hard it's been to keep from trying to win you back. Especially once I found out you weren't dating Piz anymore."

She'd sort of wondered why he hadn't asked about Piz after they'd reconnected the prior weekend. _Apparently I'm not the only one keeping tabs._ "And how did you find _that_ out?" she asked curiously.

He looked a little chagrined as he shrugged. "I may have grilled Mac for the scoop when school started and I noticed he wasn't around campus at all."

"Well I suppose she'd be easier for you to get intel from than Wallace would be."

Logan groaned and rolled on to his back as he ran a hand through his hair. "Oh god, does he still _hate_ me?"

Veronica laughed softly, causing Logan to at least turn back toward her. "No. He may have been furious when you beat up Piz, but later—after he'd calmed down enough and looked at all the evidence—he came to the right conclusion. That you'd do anything to protect me, no matter what. How could he ever hate you for that?"

"Oh, I'm sure he can find a way. Just give him a little more time," Logan answered sardonically.

"Hey, no more feeling bad about yourself, okay? I'm not going to let you get away with it," she told him with a stern look on her face. "You're a good person, who's made mistakes, but always learns from them. No one's perfect, not even me."

"I don't know," Logan interrupted, looking a bit less serious. "You're pretty damn perfect if you ask me. Every single inch of you, inside _and_ out."

Veronica laughed and shook her head. "I think that's just the post-cotial bliss talking, but I'll let you get away with it for now."

Logan looked as though he didn't quite agree, but apparently he wasn't going to argue with her either. He pulled her a little tighter against his body as he settled back onto the bed again. She assumed he was going to try to go to sleep, so she was taken by surprise when he started talking again a few minutes later.

"So back to Duncan. Do you think we have anything to worry about tomorrow based on how he was with you tonight?" Logan asked, a hint of concern lacing his words again.

"I think we should be a little cautious but not go into it trying to hide anything from him either. Like I said, it won't be a surprise to him this time, so I think he'll handle it much better."

"Whatever you think is best… you know I'll back you up no matter what."

"Hmmmm… back me up to what? The bathroom counter? An antique writing desk? The wall in a dark hallway?" she pondered suggestively.

"I thought _someone_ had an early class… but instead of going to sleep, they're getting me all aroused _reminiscing_ ," Logan teased in a husky voice as his hand ran down her side before sliding around to pull her lower body closer to his.

"Sleep's for losers," Veronica countered as she hooked her leg over his thigh and ground against him. If he was ready for round two—and there was no question about that—then that was definitely more interesting than discussing what to do about Duncan.

"Don't complain to me if you fall asleep in your Sociology class," Logan scolded playfully before he ducked his head down toward her breasts.

"Mmmmm…" Veronica murmured as she arched her back instinctively. "I'm sure I can get notes from some dedicated... attentive… student," she muttered breathily between soft moans.


	6. Chapter 6

_Well it seems as if I'm back to less frequent updates, but I'm still here! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. Thank you all for your ongoing support and kindness!_

 _And as always, special thanks to Bondopoulos for always being such a wonderful beta!_

 _Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas._

Veronica was surprised how great she felt on Friday considering everything that had been going on in her life over the past week. She was fairly certain, though, that her current mood had a lot to do with the lingering euphoria from her amazing night with Logan. She'd miraculously made it to her morning class on time and succeeded in not getting distracted by thoughts of the prior night too many times. Now she just prayed the rest of the day went this well.

She'd just walked into her apartment when her cell phone rang. Veronica let out a disappointed sigh when she realized the caller wasn't Logan. They weren't planning to meet for another hour, but she had hoped that his afternoon class had been canceled so they could have some extra time alone together before heading over to see Duncan. The number on her screen was unfamiliar, and even though for a few seconds she considered just letting it go to voicemail, she ended up answering it after the fourth ring.

"Hello, sweetheart!"

Veronica cringed slightly as Lianne's voice came through the phone. "Hi, Mom," she answered less enthusiastically.

"Jake and I just got back into town late last night and we were hoping you could come have dinner with us tomorrow night. I can't wait to show you the new house. I'm sure that you're just going to love it, especially your room. The view of the ocean is just breathtaking," Lianne rambled on excitedly.

Veronica tried to suppress the sigh that threatened to slip out. "Sorry...can't. Already have plans tomorrow night."

"With _Duncan_?" Lianne asked in the sing-songy tone she used to use to ask Veronica about the boys she liked. "Jake's so excited that Duncan's finally been able to come home. You could both come for dinner... and the baby too, of course. I still have a hard time thinking of Jake as a grandfather… and I guess soon I'll be a step-grandmother too. At least I think it works—"

"No, Mom," Veronica impatiently interrupted. "I have plans with _Logan_ tomorrow night."

"Oh… Logan _Echolls_? I guess I didn't realize you two were seeing each other. Jake had said you and Duncan were together before he left with the baby, so I just assumed..."

Veronica let out a frustrated sigh. "You haven't been a part of my life for the last four years. There are a lot of things that you don't know, Mom." _Although apparently she must know about the paternity test since she doesn't seemed concerned about that at all now._

"And I _am_ sorry for that… and that's why I really want to try to make things better now," Lianne replied sounding remorseful.

Veronica inhaled a steadying breath. "I know… It's just all so unexpected…"

"I know sweetheart," Lianne quickly interjected again sounding much more positive than a second before. "Maybe you and _Logan_ could stop by after dinner tomorrow… or before— whatever would work better for you."

"I'll um… I'll talk to him and let you know," Veronica replied a little hesitantly.

"Perfect. I'll talk to you soon then, honey," Lianne quickly answered. "Bye, baby."

"Bye, Mom," Veronica replied softly before she ended the call.

Veronica decided to knock out some schoolwork while she waited for Logan to arrive. Keith had called just after her class had let out to tell her that the bail jumper had gotten the slip on him; he'd gotten a new lead and was heading up to Nevada next. The bounty on the case was quite high, so it was definitely worth the extra time to close the case. Veronica still hadn't wanted to get into everything that had been going on over the phone, so she told him to be careful and to pencil-in a little daddy-daughter time together when he returned.

Veronica was so engrossed in her homework that she actually let out a little gasp when there was a knock. She peeked through the window before opening the door since she really didn't want another surprise like the night before.

"Hey there," she greeted Logan demurely as she opened the door.

"Hey there, yourself," Logan replied as he walked in and gave her a sly grin. "Is your dad home?" he asked innocently as he glanced around the apartment.

Veronica shook her head coyly as she shut the door and closed the distance between them. "We have the place all to ourselves," she replied with a sultry smile. A moment later Logan's mouth pressed against hers, giving her a much more personal greeting. They were standing just inside the door and it only took a few seconds for Logan to pick her up and spin her around so he could set her down on the closest stool.

"Mmmm..." Logan mumbled when he finally pulled slightly away from Veronica with a blissful smile on his lips and a deep sigh. "So... how was class?"

Veronica chuckled softly and widened her eyes incredulously. "You seriously want to talk about school when we have the place all to ourselves?"

"Not really, but you didn't say when your dad would be back and I noticed the lack of Backup, so I thought your dad might just be out on a walk with him."

"Observant," Veronica commended with an amused grin. "But inaccurate conclusion."

Logan raised his eyebrows questioningly at her. "Then where's your faithful little maneater?"

" _Well_ ," Veronica replied coyly. "I wasn't sure when I might be getting home and didn't want him cooped up too long, so I asked Wallace if he could dog-sit him at his house for the weekend."

"The _whole_ weekend?" Logan asked, unable to hide the excitement in his tone. She laughed softly and nodded, but then she remembered the call earlier from her mom. Logan must have noticed a slight shift in her demeanor, because his brows furrowed slightly. "What else happened since I kissed you goodbye this morning?"

She let out a small sigh and started fidgeting with a button on his henley. "My mom called earlier."

"Well, that would explain it." He grimaced compassionately as he reached up and stroked her hair. "How did the conversation go this time?"

Veronica let out a bitter chuckle. "Besides her assuming I was still dating _Duncan_?" She paused for a moment and shook her head. "Which—before she split—she was mortified of, since she knew there was a chance that we were actually siblings."

"What?" Logan asked, clearly confused and thrown off by what she'd just said.

"Oh, sorry…" Veronica apologized. "I guess… I guess I never told you that, did I?" She hadn't intentionally kept that from Logan, but then she hadn't really been eager to share that part of the sordid tale with him either. He shook his head and still seemed a bit overwhelmed by that revelation. She wasn't sure what he was thinking, but if the scowl on his face was any indication, it wasn't good. "Yeah, um… We're _not_ though… my dad did a paternity test when I was in high school—at the end of junior year—so Duncan and I knew that we weren't when we started dating again senior year."

"Wait, was that why Duncan broke up with you before Lilly died?" Logan asked, still looking very unsettled by all of this new information.

Veronica let out a long sigh and nodded. "Yeah," she replied a little hesitantly, worried about how much of the truth she should really share. It was all in the past now, and she'd rather just forget it all than actually dredge it up again. But she also didn't want to keep any more secrets from Logan either.

Logan abruptly took a step away from her and then turned and stalked toward the front door a few steps before spinning around and pacing back to her. He looked even more upset as he seemed to be mentally piecing things together. Based on his expression, she could tell the moment a more sickening thought occurred to him. "Did Duncan think he was your _brother_ at Shelly's party? Is that why he didn't admit what happened that night until you tracked him down and confronted him?"

Veronica cringed at the accusation. Even though she knew it was true, it had always been easier to just ignore that unpleasant fact. Her reaction was obviously enough for Logan to know the answer without her actually verbalizing it.

"That fucking asshole…" Logan muttered angrily before he stopped and shook his head. It was easy to tell he was furious about what Duncan had done. "How could you…" he started to ask before he trailed off again.

"I know… but his judgment was impaired that night," Veronica reactively justified, unconsciously reverting to the same excuse that she always used on herself to explain what had happened. Back then it had been the only way she could rationalize it to herself and the words seemed to just automatically tumble out.

The expression on Logan's face became even more stricken than before. "Because of the drugs that _I_ gave him!" Logan stated furiously as he reached up and tugged on his hair with one hand.

"You didn't know what would happen," Veronica quickly interjected, reminding him again of what she'd told him the first time they'd discussed it.

"No! That's no fucking excuse, Veronica," Logan sharply replied causing her to recoil slightly. "I've used GHB—even more than I gave him—and I _never_ would have _mistakenly_ slept with my own _sister_ ," Logan continued on angrily.

Veronica hadn't expected the conversation to take this turn at all. She looked at him helplessly, not sure what actually to say to him now. It was easy to see how infuriated he was, and she noticed that once he let go of his hair, he kept clenching and unclenching his fists. "Look, that happened a long time ago—" she started.

"It may have been a long time ago for you, but I'm sorry, this isn't something that I can just say ' _oh, yeah it's fine_ ', Veronica," he interrupted in frustration. "I just… I need to go."

Before Veronica could stop him or get another word out, he'd stormed out the door, slamming it behind him.

* * *

Veronica sat frozen for a few seconds, staring helplessly at the door. Suddenly all she could think about was Logan beating up Piz and Gory.

"Shit," she said out loud as she lunged for her keys and purse.

It only took a minute for her to race out to the parking lot, but then she stopped short when she realized Logan's Range Rover was still there. She glanced around and didn't see him anywhere, so she headed back to the apartment. She was glad that Logan hadn't stormed off to confront Duncan, but she was still worried about how upset he was.

She could only think of one place that Logan might have gone, so instead of going back into her apartment, Veronica headed down the stairs that lead to the beach. She debated on the way down whether or not it was a good idea to search him out rather than let him have some time to cool off. Avoiding issues hadn't really worked out so well for them in the past though, so she decided trying to talk it through was probably the better option, even if it may be more difficult.

It only took a minute for Veronica to spot Logan sitting on a boulder, his shoulders slightly hunched, arms crossed in front of him as he stared out at the ocean.

Veronica took a deep breath and braced herself before walking over to him. "Is this seat taken?" she asked with as much fake jovality as she could muster.

He let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head but kept staring out at the ocean instead of looking at her as she took a seat.

"I'm sorry," he muttered softly as he continued to stare out at the crashing surf.

"Okay," she replied hesitantly, not expecting him to be apologizing.

"I um…" he started, pausing to take a deep breath before he continued. "I'm sorry I reacted like that. It's just… I had no idea… but I know you're dealing with so much already and I'm sure you didn't need me reacting like that on top of having to talk to your mom earlier too."

Veronica leaned into him and bumped him slightly with her shoulder. "It's okay..."

"No it's not, Veronica," he responded, sounding disappointed in himself. She'd certainly heard that tone enough to recognize it even if he wasn't looking at her. "I told you I would be there for you… to help you deal with this mess with your mom and then I explode and storm out like I'm still the same inconsiderate jackass I was in high school."

"At least you didn't break a lamp," Veronica teased. She heard him make a frustrated groaning sound and second guessed whether joking about that was helpful or not. "I uh…" she started and then took a second to build up her confidence to continue. "I didn't take it very well when I first found out either. I guess… I guess just ignoring all the bad parts of the past made things easier."

"Choosing to think of it as _one of those not real things_ …" Logan mumbled desolately, looking down at the ground where he started pushing sand around with the toe of his shoe.

It took Veronica a few seconds to realize why that phrase sounded familiar. _The salt lick_. She couldn't help but wonder how much Logan was blaming himself in addition to being furious with Duncan. "I know this probably feels fresh and raw to you… and I'm sorry I inadvertently dumped that on you."

"You certainly don't need to apologize, Veronica," Logan interjected as he shook his head and finally turned to look at her. She could easily see all the anguish in his expression as his sad brown eyes met hers. " _Nothing_ that's happened is _your_ fault."

"And it's not your fault either," she offered as she reached out and gently squeezed one of his forearms.

"But some of it is, Veronica," he countered dispiritedly.

"There's nothing I haven't already forgiven you for," she told him reassuringly. "We've both made mistakes, but those are in the past and I'm more interested in the here and now with you. As well as our future too."

" _Our_ future, huh?" Logan asked with what looked like cautious optimism. She couldn't help but smile and nod in reply. He let out a deep sigh before he uncrossed his arms and wrapped them around her. She felt him press a kiss to her forehead as she wrapped her own arms around him and squeezed him firmly.

"If you'd like, we could go back up to my apartment and I'm sure I could be much more convincing — because, you know, _actions_ speak louder than words," Veronica suggested in a husky tone. She heard him chuckle softly and then she felt him kiss her head again before he loosened his hold on her and sat back slightly.

"You didn't get a chance to finish telling me what happened with your mom," he reminded her with a somber look on his face.

Veronica tried to convince herself that Logan ignoring her offer was because he thought she was teasing rather than him being turned off from the discussion about what had really happened at Shelly's party, but a small part of her felt insecure about the latter. She wasn't sure talking about Lianne was going to make her feel better, but decided that was better than worrying about Logan's actual motivations. "She wanted me to come over and have dinner with her and Jake on Saturday, but I let her know that we already had plans," she shared. "So then she suggested that the two of us stop by either before or after dinner so I could see the house… and _my_ room."

She could tell Logan knew exactly how thrilled she was about by the sympathetic look he gave her. "Did you politely decline?"

Veronica shrugged and shook her head. "No… I told her I'd talk to you and let her know." She let out a defeated sigh. "I know she'll just keep bugging me until I at least stop by, so it might be better to just get it over with. But if you don't want to go, I can figure out some other time to go by myself."

"No. I told you I was there for you so you wouldn't have to deal with them on your own, and I meant it. If you want to do it tomorrow, we can. It's okay with me."

"Thanks. I really do appreciate it." She paused and took a deep breath, debating whether to address the more difficult topic of what they were supposed to be doing in less than an hour. She decided to just forge ahead. "And about our plans for _today_?"

She watched as Logan clenched his jaw and sucked in a deep breath. He shifted the way he was sitting, putting a little space between them and crossed his arms across his chest again. "I may not have broken any lamps in your apartment, but I don't think my Hearst-mandated counseling sessions were effective enough for me not to lose it if I have to face _him_ today."

Veronica gave him a questioning look.

"Oh yeah… it um, it seems getting into two fights in the student union a few days apart gets you noticed by Hearst administration. They gave me the option of going to a counselor or getting expelled. Surprisingly, I chose the more responsible option."

"Oh," Veronica replied feeling a little guilty about the role she had played in all of that.

Logan must have noticed her unease. "It was probably a good thing. I at least clicked with the guy more than I had with Becky—Miss James—so it turned out to be good for me." He gave her a slightly embarrassed grin. "And good for your light fixtures too." He paused and then looked a bit more serious before he continued. "He actually got me to talk some about Aaron… and my mom... which I probably really needed to do."

"I can imagine that must have been hard, but I'm glad you found someone you felt like you could open up to," Veronica replied compassionately. She'd always avoided pushing him to talk about either of his parents, feeling completely unequipped to help him deal with those issues.

"Yeah," Logan agreed as he nodded slowly. "But facing Duncan—after what I just found out— like I said in your apartment, I can't just pretend that what he did was okay, Veronica. No matter the circumstances." He paused and she could tell it pained him a bit as he continued. "But if you still want to go so you can see his daughter, I understand and I don't want to stop you from doing that."

Veronica bit her lip as she struggled over what to do. She wished she hadn't let that comment slip out earlier because then things would have been much easier even if a little awkward with what had happened the night before with Duncan. Given that, though, she really didn't want to go without Logan. "I do want to go to see Lilly, but I don't want to go without you," she told him honestly. "But I know that you're upset. I wish there was something I could say or do to make things better. And it wasn't just the GHB, Logan… you don't know how that interacted with the other drugs he was taking. And of course you had no idea about that back then either."

Logan exhaled loudly and clenched his jaw. Veronica could tell he wanted to say something, but instead of speaking, he looked back out at the ocean. She debated about pushing him to keep talking to her, but she wasn't sure if that was really the best thing to do, so instead she sat quietly and waited for him to take the lead.

"I'll try for you," he finally mumbled quietly after a few moments of silence. "If you still want to go and want me to go with you."

"I do, and thank you," she replied gratefully.

"I just need a few more minutes down here," he told her still staring out at the ocean. "I'll um… I'll meet you up at your apartment in a bit, okay?" He turned and briefly glanced at her when she didn't answer right away, but then he abruptly looked back out at the surf when his eyes locked with hers.

"Okay," Veronica answered reluctantly, not really wanting to just leave him there alone, but trying to accept that he needed a little space. She leaned into him and sat up enough so she could place a kiss on his cheek, resting her forehead against him for a moment. "I'll be waiting," she said softly before standing up and walking back to the stairs.

* * *

Logan stared out at the ocean for a while, hoping he could find the sort of calm he would typically feel when he was out on the waves. He really didn't want to let Veronica down now that she'd given them a second chance, but he was definitely struggling. It had been hard enough the first time around knowing that he'd likely played a major role in Duncan having sex with Veronica when she'd been drugged at Shelly's party, but now knowing what Duncan had believed at the time made it even worse.

Logan knew he was also having a hard time with the way Veronica had been so quick to excuse what Duncan had done to her. He'd really wanted to say something but—perhaps thanks to the counseling sessions— he'd realized that wouldn't really be constructive at all. He also didn't want her to interpret it as him still being jealous of Duncan, which if he were being honest, he probably still was on some level. But he felt like it went far beyond that. Logan kept reminding himself that she'd picked him and told him that she loved him the night before. Even though she hadn't said it since, it had meant a lot to him that she'd been willing to say it at least then.

Logan finally gave up on letting go of all his anxiety and anger, instead hoping he could at least just fake his way through the rest of the day. He felt like he owed it to Veronica to make it through the evening with Duncan and his daughter, regardless of how he was currently feeling about his childhood friend. Duncan had been through a lot too, and Logan kept trying to keep that in mind as he made his way back up to Veronica's apartment. When Logan reached her door, he took a deep breath and put on his game face before knocking.

He could tell that Veronica seemed a bit apprehensive as she opened the door and smiled cautiously at him.

"Did I give you enough time to hide all the lamps?" he asked with a forced smirk as he peered past her into the apartment. She smiled and shook her head as she opened the door wider for him to walk in.

"Nah, I figure we could use some new furnishings, and of course I'd make _you_ foot the bill, so knock yourself out," she teased with a flourish of her hand.

"I'd rather we just move on to the making up part of the program," Logan countered with a hopeful grin.

"Well that _does_ sound much better than cleaning up broken lamps," she replied as she closed the door and gave him a suggestive look.

"Mm, hmmm," he mumbled as he swiftly moved to sweep her off her feet and spun her toward the couch. She laughed and tossed her head back until his lips found the pulse point on her neck, causing her to moan and grip his waist a bit tighter with her thighs. A small voice warned him that reverting to sex wasn't really the best solution, but as he inhaled her scent and felt her press tighter against him, those rational thoughts quickly slipped away. Veronica Mars really was like a celestial body, and he was helpless to ever resist her gravitational pull.

"You're sure your dad isn't going to come home early?" he half-teased as he glanced up at the front door after they'd been passionately kissing on the couch for several minutes.

The dangerous smile that Veronica gave him made his pulse quicken. "Positive," she replied as she slipped her hand past the waistband of his jeans. He moaned and buried his head against her shoulder, quickly deciding that being blissed out from amazing sex with Veronica would certainly make having to endure the rest of the evening with Duncan more bearable. With a smile, he shifted so he could kiss her deeply again.

While he was glad he hadn't worn a super tight pair of jeans, there definitely wasn't a lot of room for Veronica's hand, and she must have quickly gotten frustrated.

"These need to go," she announced with adorable annoyance as she pulled her hand out and tugged at the button to his jeans. He smiled against her lips and nodded his agreement, reaching down to help her but then he froze as he glanced up at the open blinds.

She must have realized what he was worried about because she smirked at him. "It's not everyday a girl gets to witness Logan Echolls worrying about modesty," she teased as she bit on her lip and stared up at him in amusement.

"We'll see who's laughing when one of your neighbors mentions this to your dad," he countered a little defiantly as he stared down at her with a grin as wide as the Cheshire cat's.

"Not that I'm admitting you're _right_ , but my bed is probably more comfortable than the couch," she replied slyly.

"I'm all about _comfort_ ," Logan told her with a suggestive smile. He effortlessly stood and scooped her up with him. She laughed and wrapped her arms and legs around him although the amusement in her eyes was quickly replaced by lust. Only a few seconds later they were passionately kissing again, and with the way she started moving against him, he hoped he actually could make it to her room. Halfway down the hall he stopped and pinned her against the wall briefly before continuing the rest of the way to her room. He carefully kicked the door shut after walking across the threshold, ensuring there wouldn't be any chance someone could see them from the front of the apartment.

He gently loosened his hold on her once he was standing next to her bed, and she slid down him to stand on her own. She looked at him suggestively as she slipped off her shirt and jeans. He couldn't help taking a moment to appreciate how beautiful she was. His hesitation must have worried her because a slight frown formed on her face and she cocked her head slightly to the side.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, sounding a bit apprehensive.

He shook his head and smiled lovingly at her. "Just admiring how absolutely gorgeous you are."

She rolled her eyes, apparently downplaying his compliment.

"It's the truth," he told her as he stepped closer to her and cupped her face with his hands. "You are so beautiful, Veronica."

She beamed up at him before leaning up to kiss him quickly on the lips. "You're already pretty much guaranteed to get to home plate, you know? No need to butter me up."

"You know that's not what I care about," he said as he picked her up and sat her on the edge of the bed, kneeling down in front of her. "You know you mean more to me than that, right?"

She gave him a tender smile and nodded. "I know… but it's easier to tease than be serious sometimes."

"I know… but I don't want you to ever doubt how much you really mean to me," he told her reverently as he reached up and caressed her cheek.

"I don't," she replied softly as she stared intently back at him. She looked at him seriously for a few seconds before a lascivious expression returned. "But I think you'd be even more convincing if you were naked," she added with a playful smirk.

He huffed a soft laugh and leaned forward to kiss her. "As the lady wishes," he muttered before obediently reaching down and pulling his shirt off.

"Much better," Veronica commended once he tossed the shirt aside and stood up to unbutton his jeans. "I think you deserve a _reward_ for being such a good listener," she continued as she reached out to help him slide his jeans down, repositioning herself so she could places kisses down his stomach. He let out a low groan as she moved even lower, her ministrations erasing all rational thoughts from his mind.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Happy New Year to everyone! I finally had a chance to finish off this chapter. I'm also working on the final chapter to Marshmallows and Moonlight, so that will be what gets updated next. I decided to finish that one off and then I'll try to finally get back to Rocky Shores. I know several people have been asking for updates and I'm sorry it's taken so long to get back to it. I did write a story for the VM Holiday collection on A03, so be sure to check all of those out if you haven't yet. I'll post it on FF after the event is over and the anonymous setting goes off.**_

 _ **And as always, special thanks to Bondopoulos for always being such a wonderful beta!**_

Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.

Despite Logan's attempts to act as if everything was fine, Veronica could tell that it wasn't the case. She'd noticed a small frown on Logan's face when she glanced at him in the mirror as they were getting dressed again to go see Duncan. When his eyes had met hers in the mirror's reflection however, the frown had quickly vanished.

Logan's unease seemed to only intensify as they drove over to Duncan's house, his fingers nervously drumming on the steering wheel. Veronica had instinctively reached over and rested her hand on his leg, hoping that might calm him a bit. It only took him a few seconds for him to place his hand on top of hers, bringing an end to his nervous fidgeting for a while at least. It surely couldn't have helped Logan's state of mind that Celeste's new estate was on the same street that the Echolls' mansion had been on; they had to literally drive right by the property on their way. After Aaron's death, Logan had sold the land and a new mansion had already been built there. While the new house looked vastly different from the one he'd lived in, Veronica noticed the new owners had yet to change the front gates, surely a painful reminder to Logan of living there. Veronica noticed that he'd tightly clenched his jaw until they had driven a ways past the edge of the estate.

As was common of the residences in that community, a security gate along with walls and shrubbery completely obscured Celeste's house from the road. When they were about to pull into the driveway another car was leaving, so Logan waited a moment before he took his turn to go through the gate. Veronica let out a shocked gasp when she realized who was in the other car. She was relieved that the other driver didn't seem to pay any attention to them at all, though.

"Was that?" Logan started to ask, obviously recognizing the driver as well. Veronica nodded in reply. "Well, he certainly looked different when he was sprawled on the floor of the student union with blood all over his face. What the hell would _he_ be doing _here_?"

"He um…" Veronica struggled to come up with any other explanation than one. "He knows Jake, so maybe he knew Duncan too… I'm not sure." She really didn't want to bring up the Castle right then, especially with feelings still so raw after their earlier conversation.

"Well that's a pretty strange coincidence, isn't it?" Logan commented as he continued driving toward the house and pulled the Rover to a park.

"Yeah," Veronica answered, still a bit shell-shocked to see Gory Sorokin leaving Duncan's house.

Logan turned and gave her a slightly suspicious look. She could almost read his mind and deduced that he suspected she knew more than she was sharing—which of course she did. He finally blew out a quick breath and shook his head. "Ready?" he asked, sounding more than a little frustrated. She wasn't sure if his frustration was over having to go see Duncan or over the fact that she didn't elaborate on how she knew Gory was an acquaintance of Jake's; likely both. She nodded and he opened his door and climbed out. She waited for him to come around to her side, hoping to try to smooth things over a little before they walked to the front door. _Leading an agitated Logan into meet Duncan is not going to end well._ After Logan opened the passenger door for her, she reached out for his hand and then pulled him to her.

"Thank you for coming with me," she said tenderly before she leaned forward and kissed him. She felt him relax a little as they kissed, and at least there was a small smile on his lips as he leaned away and nodded. She kept their hands joined as she climbed out and they started walking up the path to the front door.

It was obvious that Logan's anxiety had returned as he started jingling the car keys in his pocket when Veronica rang the doorbell. Fortunately it only took a minute for the door to open, although Veronica had expected Duncan, so she was thrown off a little when it wasn't him.

"I think we're a bit underdressed, snookums," Logan commented with a deeply sarcastic tone.

Celeste, who was dressed in a formal evening gown, let out an irritated huff before she spoke. "Logan… _Veronica_... Duncan will be right down."

"Thanks," Veronica replied as she hesitantly walked into the foyer with Logan right at her side. "You're dress is lovely," Veronica added, trying to take the high road in the awkward situation. She heard Logan start to chuckle, but then he covered it by clearing his throat.

Celeste rolled her eyes slightly. "Thank you, Veronica," she replied, at least doing her best to remain civil as well. "I have a charity benefit that I'm heading off to."

"Hey," Duncan greeted as he turned the corner into the foyer. "Thanks for getting the door, Mom."

"Of course, darling. The car should be here any minute to get me. Is Lilly going to be back soon so I can say goodnight to her before I leave?" Celeste asked, turning her attention and a loving smile toward Duncan.

"They're probably going to be about another ten or fifteen minutes," Duncan responded as he shot a quick glance from his mother to Logan and Veronica. Veronica saw him narrow his eyes slightly as he glanced down at their joined hands, but he quickly looked up with a friendly smile.

"Well, that's a pity since I don't expect to be back until after her bedtime," Celeste continued, addressing only Duncan. "Oh, I think my car just pulled up," she added as she glanced out the windows framing the front door. "Have a good time, dear. I believe Maria left several options for you to choose from for dinner already prepared in the refrigerator. You'll just need to heat them up. I'm sure she probably left written instructions on each dish for you as well."

"Thanks, Mom. I'm sure we'll be fine. Enjoy your gala," Duncan told her with a warm smile.

Celeste moved close enough to give Duncan a quick peck on the cheek. She kept her eyes on him as she said a simple 'goodbye' that seemed to apply to all three of them before heading out the door.

"I'm so happy you two could make it," Duncan said as he reached out to shake Logan's hand, causing Logan to have to let go of Veronica's hand in the process. After greeting Logan, Duncan quickly moved in to hug Veronica and then stood between the two as he wrapped his arms across each of their shoulders. Veronica shot a quick glance at Logan, who seemed to be less than thrilled with Duncan's efforts, but wasn't overtly protesting either.

"I can give you a quick tour before the nanny and Lilly get back," Duncan offered as he started leading them down the foyer into the main living area. "Or if you'd prefer, we could check out our dinner options and I can get started on that."

"Food sounds good," Veronica replied, thinking that might be the better option than Duncan dragging them around the house like he currently was. Luckily it wasn't far to the kitchen, and Duncan separated from them to head over to the refrigerator. Veronica quickly closed the distance between herself and Logan and wrapped her arm around his waist. In response, Logan exhaled softly and wrapped his arm across her shoulder; his thumb gently stroking along her collarbone as they stood their watching Duncan.

"So where's Lilly?" Veronica asked innocently, trying to find a safe topic to discuss.

"She's on her way back with the nanny," Duncan explained, looking back at them from the open fridge before he continued. "I was meeting with someone and Celeste was getting ready for her gala, so the nanny took her to a park that she really loves."

Veronica took a quick second to decide whether she should press him about Gory. _He did sort of bring him up_. "It looked like you were meeting with Gory Sorokin. We passed him on our way in the gate."

"Oh, yeah," Duncan answered before pausing for a second. "We had some, um… _mutual interests_ to discuss," Duncan added, his lip curving up the slightest amount before he turned back to the fridge again. "So it looks like we have chicken cacciatore or beef bourguignon as our main options. Which sounds better to you two?"

Veronica's mind was racing. Her curiosity was definitely peaked by Duncan's vague comment, especially given what she knew about Gory's family connections. She'd been concerned that Gory might retaliate against Logan after his beatdown in the student union and so she'd used the information off the harddrive as leverage to make sure that didn't happen. _Duncan certainly couldn't have known about everything that had happened between the three of us, could he?_ She really hoped that Duncan wouldn't try to use his connection to Gory to do something to Logan, but his comment about mutual interests certainly had her concerned.

"Whichever one Lilly would rather have is fine with us, _right_ , Veronica?" Logan answered reluctantly, furrowing his brows slightly as he looked down at her.

"Yeah, of course," Veronica replied, nodding and forcing a smile in Duncan's direction.

"Well, I think she'd prefer the chicken," Duncan said as he pulled a casserole dish out of the fridge and took a notecard off the top. He started reading the card as he walked toward the built-in double ovens. "Can I get either of you a drink?" he asked as he sat the dish down and pushed some buttons on the oven. "We have some beer, or wine… or we could get into the hard stuff if you'd like. Mom's been pretty chill about that since I've been home."

Before either of them had a chance to answer, the sound of the front door opening was immediately followed by a little girl's voice yelling, 'Daddy, Daddy!'.

"In here, sweetie," Duncan called out as he started walking back toward the foyer. A few seconds later a small blonde girl was barreling toward Duncan and he scooped her up. "There's my princess," he said lovingly before placing a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Sorry we lost track of time until you texted," the young blonde woman following shortly behind Lilly explained to Duncan as she entered the kitchen. It took Veronica a second to realize who she actually was.

"Astrid?" Veronica asked in surprise.

"Oh… _Veronica_?" Astrid replied, seeming to be as surprised to see Veronica as she was to see her. "And Logan? Hi." Veronica couldn't help but notice the odd way Astrid looked at the two of them standing there together.

"Oh, right," Duncan interjected suddenly. "I forgot that you _both_ know Astrid already."

Veronica glanced up at Logan who suddenly seemed even more uncomfortable than before.

"Yeah, it's been several years though," Astrid quickly interjected, drawing Veronica's attention back to her. Astrid almost seemed to be forcing herself to smile politely at them. It felt quite different to Veronica compared to how friendly Astrid had been when she volunteered to help with their plan two years before. "Duncan didn't mention _you_ were his guests this evening."

Duncan let out a soft chuckle. "Did I forget to mention that?" he asked in an innocent tone. "It's been such a whirlwind of a week; I guess I thought I'd told you that at some point."

"No, I _definitely_ would have remembered _that_ ," Astrid replied with an irritated look on her face.

"Well thanks for taking Lilly to the park for me. I've got it from here. We'll see you tomorrow," Duncan told Astrid dismissively as he started to walk Lilly closer to Logan and Veronica.

"I thought I was staying the night," Astrid countered. "Since your mother will be gone late… in case you need any help with Lilly. I don't mind staying to help you with her."

"It's really not necessary, Astrid," Duncan replied. "Thank you for offering though."

"Fine," Astrid replied sounding a bit terse, but then her expression softened and so did her tone. "Bye-bye, Lilly. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye-bye," the little girl repeated and waved happily at Astrid.

"If you decide you need some help, you can still call," Astrid told Duncan bluntly before she turned and headed out of the room.

"Lilly, I'd like you to meet my friends Veronica and Logan," Duncan said gently to the little girl in his arms as he stopped in front of them. Apparently Astrid's annoyance with him hadn't phased him at all.

"Juice?" the little girl asked Duncan, not giving much notice to Logan and Veronica.

"Can you say 'hello' and then I'll get you some juice," Duncan instructed her with an encouraging smile.

" _Hello_ ," Lilly said mostly to Duncan. "Juice now?"

Duncan chuckled and gave Logan and Veronica an apologetic grin before walking back to the fridge again. "So, how about you two? What can I get you?"

"I'll take that beer you offered," Logan quickly answered, catching Veronica a little off guard; his tone sounding rather anxious.

"What other non-alcoholic options do you have, _besides_ juice?" Veronica asked, deciding she may need to stay sober in case Logan needed her to be the designated driver. Given everything that had transpired before they'd even arrived, and now this awkward run in with Astrid, Veronica wasn't sure what to expect.

"We have iced tea," Duncan offered as he grabbed a bottle of beer out of the fridge and handed it to Logan with a broad grin.

"That sounds good," Veronica replied, trying her best to stay composed and to not start worrying about what was going on with Logan and his reaction to Astrid.

* * *

After Lilly had finished her juice, she told Duncan she wanted to play with her farm. Duncan explained that Celeste had bought her a little farm playset, which Lilly just adored.

"Maybe Veronica would like to play farm animals with you," Duncan suggested with an affectionate smile.

"Play farm too?" Lilly asked as she gave Veronica a hopeful look.

"Sure, sweetie," Veronica replied, not wanting to disappoint the little girl. Even though she'd only been around Lilly for a short time, it was easy for her to see so how much she resembled Meg. Veronica was relieved that despite what no doubt had been a challenging start in life, Lilly still seemed to act the same as other toddlers Veronica had occasionally been around.

Duncan scooped Lilly up off the spot on the counter where he'd perched her while she was drinking her juice. He gestured for Veronica and Logan to follow him as he carried Lilly back to the main living room. As soon as he put Lilly down on the floor, she scurried over to a large toy box in the corner of the room and pulled out a bright red barn with white trim and carried it over to the coffee table that was in front of the couch. She quickly ran back over to the toy box and pulled out a small box that she carried over as well. Duncan gestured to the couch, and the three of them took a seat as Lilly opened up the barn and then the small box.

"Daddy farmer," Lilly said as she produced a small blonde farmer figure dressed in blue overalls. "You piggy," Lilly continued as she pulled out a pink pig and shoved it at Veronica.

"Veronica's always loved ponies," Duncan quickly interjected. "Maybe you should let her be the pony instead."

"No, horsey _mine_ ," Lilly replied with a pout.

"That's fine. I like piggies too," Veronica assured her, hoping to prevent a toddler meltdown. "What do you have for Logan to be?" Veronica asked next, giving him a tender smile. She caught a slight grimace on his face and wondered whether her trying to include him in this was a good idea or not.

"Cow," Lilly answered as she pulled a black and white cow out of the box and handed it to Logan.

"Thanks," Logan mumbled awkwardly as he took the small figure and inspected it a little closer.

Lilly pulled out a brown horse next and held onto it tightly as she pulled out a yellow chicken and sat it on the table. A white goat came out next.

"Horsey and BaaBaa," Lilly said as she pulled a white sheep out of the box and held both of those figures in her hand, lifting them up so the other three could see them. "Daddy feed the animals," she instructed next as she pointed to a small toy hay bale.

Lilly showed them all where to put their animals in the barn, and when they were put on the right spots, a sound would come out of the barn that matched the noise the animal would make. Lilly squealed in delight every time one of the animals were put in place and mimicked each of the sounds. Logan seemed mildly amused by it all and Veronica noticed that he was taking his time drinking the beer he'd brought with him from the kitchen. She was relieved that his anxiety hadn't lead to him getting smashed at least. As Lilly played with the animals, the three of them chatted a little bit, but the conversation definitely didn't seem to be as natural as it had on Wednesday night. Veronica was relieved when the timer on the stove finally went off, signaling that it was time for dinner.

Duncan suggested that one of them could stay and play with Lilly while the other two got everything set up for dinner. Veronica decided leaving Logan alone with Lilly was certainly safer than him being alone with Duncan, so she volunteered to help Duncan in the kitchen.

"Logan seems a bit irritated," Duncan commented as he carefully removed the casserole dish from the oven. "I'd completely forgotten about him and Astrid… I certainly didn't mean to make things awkward for him."

Veronica swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to keep a neutral expression on her face. She wasn't surprised that, in addition to sleeping with Kendall, Logan may have been sleeping with other girls at that time, but it still stung. Of course, she'd suspected something like that had happened based on both Logan and Astrid's reactions, but having it verbalized seem to make it even worse. Veronica certainly didn't want to give Duncan the satisfaction of letting him know it bothered her though.

"So how do you know Gory?" Veronica asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"Oh… our dads went to college together, so our families have known each other since before I was born. With them living on the East coast, though, we didn't see them very often."

 _Not to mention being part of the same sinister surreptitious society._ Veronica was slightly bothered that Duncan didn't ask how she knew Gory. It wasn't like Hearst was a small college where you knew everyone who went there. It made her wonder how much Duncan might actually know about what had transpired the prior year between her, Logan and Gory.

"He transferred to UCLA this year and is living up in LA now," Duncan continued, starting to transfer the chicken cacciatore to a serving platter. "The utensils are in the center drawer if you wouldn't mind getting them," he added, pointing to near where Veronica was standing. "So I guess it's fair to assume that you decided to give Logan another chance?" he asked next. "What does this make it? The fourth? Fifth?"

Veronica crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "You said you'd _accept_ my decision. If it's a problem for you, we can just leave," she countered loudly, anger obvious in her tone.

"Woah, no… sorry… I didn't mean to upset you. I was just a little surprised after all his past screw ups that you wanted to take a chance again. But I'm perfectly okay with it," he responded with a placating smile.

Veronica remained unconvinced. Even in her extremely annoyed state, it didn't escape her attention that Duncan had swiftly tried to avoid the topic of Gory and instead shifted back to Logan's shortcomings again.

"You don't know either of us anymore, Duncan. Neither of us are the same people that we were when you left. Logan's grown up a lot in the past two years. You'd better start giving him a little more credit if you want to be part of either of our lives now that you're home."

"Well, I hope you're right because you definitely deserve better than the guy I knew before I left; the guy who banged practically every female with a pulse," Duncan quickly snapped back, but before Veronica could reply, his expression became chagrined and he cut her off. "I'm sorry. That was out of line. I guess I just feel really protective when it comes to you and I don't want to see you get hurt."

 _Jealous and possessive is more like it._ "Logan isn't going to hurt me," she informed him, yanking the utensil drawer open with a bit more force than necessary.

"I'm sure you're right. He would never _intentionally_ hurt you," Duncan started again. "I just don't think he always used the best judgment in the past, which led to problems not just with you, but with Lilly too. And with someone who has as checkered a past as Logan, you never know when something could come back to bite him."

She wasn't sure what to make of his final comment, but she had plenty of thoughts about Lilly and Logan. "You know very well that Lilly treated Logan terribly, so you can't blame all their issues on him."

"I know… of course being her brother, I probably ignored more of her shortfalls than I did with Logan. I really didn't mean to start a fight with you, Veronica. Can we call a truce? I promise I'll try harder not to jump to conclusions about the two of you."

Veronica let out a frustrated sigh. Knowing how she felt when both he and Logan had been with other girls, she could empathize with how Duncan was feeling,. There was also the crazy reality that they were soon very likely going to be family. "Fine," she relented.

"Great, if you can finish up setting the table, I'll go get Lilly all washed up for dinner."

Duncan was practically out of the room before she'd even finished saying yes. It didn't escape her attention that he'd done almost the same thing the prior night—dropping bombs and then quickly retreating.

Less than a minute later, Logan wandered into the kitchen. "You okay?" he asked, his face scrunched up in obvious worry. "I thought I heard you raise your voice shortly before Duncan came out to get Lilly."

Veronica let out a long sigh and nodded. "Yeah. As we expected, he's not thrilled about us being together again and was stirring the pot a little."

Logan's eyes hardened at her reply and she imagined he might be wondering what exactly Duncan had said to her.

"He was mostly just worried about me getting hurt," Veronica told him, hoping to put Logan's mind at ease so they could get through the rest of the evening.

"I never want to hurt you," Logan said, starting to look a bit despondent about the whole situation. She couldn't help feel bad about how the evening was going, given he hadn't even wanted to come earlier.

"I know. And I told him as much," Veronica assured him.

Logan nodded but didn't look completely convinced that everything was okay. Duncan and Lilly walked into the kitchen at that point, cutting short their private conversation.

* * *

Duncan seemed to be working hard during dinner to keep the conversation going and to avoid any awkward silences. He asked them both about what courses they had taken at Hearst and what they thought of the offerings there. While the atmosphere was far from the camaraderie they'd all shared when they were much younger, they at least were all being polite and civil. They were just finishing up their food when Duncan threw out another grenade.

"Speaking of Hearst and classes, I ran into Madison Sinclair earlier today when I went to lunch with my mom. She mentioned she had a class with you and Dick at the start of last year before she transferred to USC," he directed at Logan. "She asked how you've been doing. She's actually considering transferring back here again."

Veronica watched Logan clench his jaw, and she couldn't help the scowl that formed on her own face. Duncan's expression suggested he was just innocently throwing that out there, but based on what he'd started to say at her apartment the night before, Veronica was pretty sure he knew about Logan and Madison.

"Let's all pray that she doesn't," Veronica grumbled with a loathsome tone, not really sure what else to say.

"Oh right, I forgot that the two of you didn't get along very well," Duncan replied apologetically. "It's tough to remember every little detail when I've been focused on other things for the past couple of years. I'm so relieved all of that is behind us now though and I can focus on living a real life here, rather than worrying about being apprehended by the FBI. And now Lilly can grow up like a normal girl and not a fugitive on the run."

Veronica glanced over at Lilly who was happily eating the small pieces of chicken that Duncan had cut up for her. She reminded herself that Lilly was the reason she'd wanted to come over. It certainly couldn't have been easy for them during the past two years; constantly needing to relocate to keep themselves safe and essentially being all alone.

"I think Maria left a homemade cheesecake for us if you're ready for dessert," Duncan announced a few seconds later.

"Actually," Veronica quickly replied. "I had a pretty long day at school and I'm stuffed from dinner, so I think we're probably just going to go after we help you clean up the dishes."

Veronica glanced at Logan who quickly nodded in agreement. If he was surprised by her sudden decision to leave sooner than they'd initially planned, he didn't show it at all.

"Oh," Duncan muttered, apparently not expecting her response, "I thought we were going to watch a movie after Lilly went to bed."

"Maybe another time. I also need to get home to take Backup out for a walk because my dad's gone tonight," she lied, thinking it would make a more believable excuse than just being tired.

"Okay, sure. I understand. And don't worry about the dishes. Maria or Astrid will take care of them in the morning," Duncan replied, clearly disappointed, but not trying to talk her out of it either.

They finished up eating their food and then all helped carry the leftovers and plates into the kitchen before they said their farewells. Lilly gave them each a big hug and a big kiss on the cheek as they said goodbye to her. Duncan politely shook Logan's hand and gave Veronica a brief hug before the two of them escaped out the front door.

Neither Logan nor Veronica spoke as they walked to Logan's car.

"I don't think we should go to the Grand tonight," Veronica said after they'd both fastened their seatbelts.

"Oh... okay. I can take you back to your apartment," Logan replied as he started the car, looking straight ahead and not at her.

"I'm sure I'm just being irrationally paranoid, but I don't think we should go there either," she continued with a heavy sigh.

Logan turned to face her with his brows furrowed in confusion. After a second though, his expression changed to realization. "Is this about Sorokin?"

Veronica nodded. "I know it's probably absurd though… and asking you to go somewhere else is a bit extreme."

"As long as I'm with you, I don't care. I can just get us a room somewhere else for the night."

"Yeah… but asking you to rent a hotel room, when you already have one just because I have this feeling that something bad _might_ happen is a bit much."

"Well, we could always get a room at the Camelot if that would make you feel less guilty."

Veronica cringed at the suggestion. She didn't think he was actually serious, but there wasn't much humor in his tone.

"I'm kidding," he continued a few seconds later when she didn't reply. "I'm just glad you weren't trying to bail on me. I thought after..." he paused and turned to stare out over the steering wheel again. "I thought you were probably upset with me."

"Well, honestly, finding out about you and Astrid didn't make me feel that great," she admitted, trying to keep the raw emotion she'd actually been feeling out of her voice. "But if that happened before Duncan left, I don't really have any right to judge."

"Duncan told you, then?" he asked sullenly.

"Yeah… and based on the way you two reacted when you saw each other, I didn't think he was just making it up to cause an issue between us."

"It only happened once and it was when you and Duncan were still together," Logan clarified, glancing cautiously in Veronica's direction. "So…" he paused a moment, his demeanor becoming even more dour, "do you still want to stay the night with me?"

At least he was being honest, and it wasn't like she hadn't dropped an even bigger bombshell on him earlier that afternoon. What a mess of a day this had turned out to be. She gave him a tender smile and nodded. "Yes."

He sucked in a deep breath of relief and nodded. "I think I know a good place we can go."

"If you need to stop by the Grand to get some things… I'm sure I'm probably overreacting and we can just go there."

"Nope, I have a bag with clothes and stuff in the back for unexpected situations like this—well, mostly surfing or beach related—but I have a bag nonetheless," he explained as he started the Range Rover and headed back toward the gate.

Veronica had grabbed her own bag when they left her apartment since she'd already planned to spend the night with Logan based on their earlier discussions. Of course she'd been expecting that to be a night at the Grand, which now made her uneasy after her time with Duncan.

It didn't escape Veronica's attention that Logan seemed to be extra cautious after they left Duncan's house; frequently studying his mirrors and making a few unexpected turns at the last minute without signalling. He hadn't said he thought they were being followed, but he was certainly driving as if he was trying to avoid letting that happen. A skill he'd certainly honed escaping the paparazzi. Neither one spoke on the drive either. She was a little relieved for that given how the rest of the day had been going. With all of his evasive driving—on top of withdrawing into her own thoughts—she was a little surprised when he stopped at the marina.

"I was thinking we could either stay on the yacht—either docked or we could take it out—or we could stay at the Marriot up the hill. Your choice, and I'm pretty sure no one followed us here if that helps you decide."

"I'd actually feel pretty safe if we took the yacht out. Would that be difficult though?" she asked, feeling like she'd probably already inconvenienced him enough. She had to admit though, going out on the yacht, where no one would expect them to be, put her mind at ease.

"No, it's easy. There's still enough light left that we could head out to Catalina and drop anchor in Avalon Bay. We can grab some snacks in the marina store if you want, since we won't have the luxury of room service."

"I could do that while you get the boat ready to go out," Veronica suggested, wanting to at least offer to help out in some way since it was her fault they were there.

"It's pretty easy to get the yacht ready. We can both run into the store and then we'll head down to the slip together."

She wasn't going to argue with him when she could easily tell that he was feeling a bit overprotective; understandable considering everything that had been going on. Logan turned off the Range Rover and they both climbed out. As she headed toward the back of the SUV to grab her bag, she couldn't help but wonder how the rest of the night was going to go. Compared to the blissful way the day had started—waking up in Logan's bed at the Grand—it had certainly taken a few turns for the worse.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Yikes, I really didn't expect it to take me so long to come back to this story, but realize now that my last update for it was in January! In addition to finishing up M &M and writing a couple little things for the 1000 word contest, this chapter just didn't come together quite like I wanted. It's still a bit of a mess, although Bondopoulos has done her best to help me fix it, but I'm ready to move on and just go with it. I really hope it won't be 2 months for me to get my next update finished! Thanks to everyone who's still out there reading!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas._**

Veronica snuck a side-glance at Logan, wishing she could read his mind. He seemed distracted. He'd been overprotective when they'd left Duncan's, but by the time they'd made it to the marina, she felt like his demeanor had become noticeably withdrawn. He'd barely said more than a few words to her since their discussion about whether to go out in the yacht or not. In the marina store, he'd asked for her input on what to buy, but even then, he seemed rather pensive. When they'd finally made it down to the yacht and unloaded their duffle bags and the groceries in the main cabin, he'd gone as far as to suggest she could just stay inside where it would be less windy than going up on the bridge with him. She couldn't tell if he was actually concerned over her level of comfort or if he was just trying to get some space, but regardless, Veronica didn't want to sit all alone in the cabin while they sailed out to Catalina. She grabbed a hoodie from her bag and followed him up to the top deck.

Once they arrived in the harbor it took a little while for them to get a mooring assignment from one of the patrol boats. While they waited, she'd done her best to stay out of his way, hoping that he'd come around on his own and start talking to her again. He seemed irritated that it was taking as long as it was for them to get their assignment, grumbling something about it not being peak travel season even if it was a Friday night. Given his already dour mood, she quietly wandered down to the lower deck while he stayed by the radio waiting for instructions.

After the harbor patrol finally gave them a buoy number, Logan had been intently focused on getting the yacht secured for the night and still hadn't said much to her other than a few procedural comments about mooring the yacht. By the time he was done, the sun was disappearing behind the island. The lights of the city were becoming brighter as the sunset of orange, pinks and purples gave way to darkness. Obviously he was upset with her—or maybe just their situation in general—and she knew from past experience that not dealing with their issues had not ended well for them. But denial and avoidance had been her main go to strategies for so long—too long—and she had no idea how to go about breaking the cycle of avoidance.

"So..." Logan started almost reluctantly once he was finally done securing the yacht. "Did you want to stay out here on deck for a while or head inside? I'm thinking we should probably talk about things, don't you?"

Veronica nodded, unsure if she was relieved or worried that he was addressing this so head on. "Inside sounds good to me."

Logan gestured with his hand for her to lead the way, so she did. Once inside the cabin, she took a seat on one of the built in couches, sitting on the middle cushion so there was room for Logan on either side. She'd expected him to join her, but instead, he closed the cabin door and went over to the galley counter. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning back against the counter and carefully studying her.

"Is this an interrogation?" Veronica asked, cocking her head to the side and raising an eyebrow questioningly. She still wasn't completely sure what was going through Logan's mind—a position she really wasn't comfortable being in. Although she realized that was a personality flaw that had lead to many of their issues in the past and something she really needed to deal with better this time around.

"Maybe less of an interrogation and more of a chance for us both to be honest with each other," Logan replied with a slight frown. His discomfort was almost tangible, which put her at ease slightly. This was new territory for both of them, but they were in it together. She suddenly had an idea about how to break the ice.

"I still haven't been with a hooker," Veronica quipped with a smirk.

He smiled a bit as he blew out a slow, measured breath. "Well _that's_ good to know, but that wasn't the question I wanted to ask."

She'd hoped her comment would get him to relax more than it did but, unfortunately, she could still hear the tension in his tone. Veronica lifted her eyebrows purposefully, giving him silent permission to continue.

"Why were you so spooked by Sorokin being there tonight?" Logan asked, the frown firmly back in place.

It was Veronica's turn to blow out a loud breath. "I'm sure I was just being overly paranoid. The more I thought about it on the way over here, the more I realized I'd definitely overreacted. I'm sure Duncan's meeting with Gory had nothing to do with us. It's not like Duncan would actually do something nefarious."

Logan let out a bitter laugh, causing her to shoot an accusatory glance in his direction.

"What? You disagree?"

"I don't understand how you constantly seem to just write off all his transgressions," Logan countered angrily.

"I _don't_ do that," Veronica snapped back quickly, causing Logan to scoff and shake his head. "I think _you're_ the one overreacting now."

"Nothing nefarious? Oh, like how he _forgot_ to mention to Astrid that we were coming over? Or that he _forgot_ we all knew each other? He fucking set that up, Veronica," Logan spat back angrily, catching Veronica completely off guard.

"Well, considering how many girls you _fucked_ that year, he may have just had a hard time remembering the full list," Veronica lashed out without even thinking about what she was saying.

Logan let out a low angry chuckle and shook his head. "Well, seeing as he walked in on us _en flagrante_ and she asked him to join us in a threesome, I have a _really_ hard time believing _she_ slipped his mind."

Logan stopped abruptly and clenched his jaw as he closed his eyes for a minute. "Fuck, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean for the conversation to go this way at all. It's just..." He stopped again, running a hand nervously through his hair. It was glaringly obvious that he was struggling to regain his composure. "You're _constantly_ putting him on a fucking pedestal, and I've never even _once_ gotten the benefit of the doubt."

"That's not true," Veronica interjected angrily, becoming more defensive by the second.

Logan shook his head and swallowed hard. When he spoke again, his tone wasn't as confrontational as it had been before. "Let me rephrase my question then. Why would you think—even for one brief moment—that Sorokin being there could be bad since he didn't seem to notice us? It obviously shook you enough to say something. Maybe start with how you knew that Jake and Sorokin are associates, since you weren't willing to divulge that to me earlier."

Veronica exhaled loudly and reached up to rub her temples. This wasn't how she wanted the night to go either, but now it seemed inevitable. But maybe this was what needed to be dealt with. It was time to come clean about what had happened the year before.

"Fine," she replied bluntly, trying, unsuccessfully, to curb some of her anger. "After the not-actually-sex sextape came out last year, I did a little digging. It took me a while but I eventually learned who had created and distributed it. As you already know, it was Sorokin. But in my quest for the truth, I uncovered a secret society at Hearst that Sorokin was a part of and so is Jake."

Logan narrowed his eyes for a few seconds before he spoke again. "Like Skull and Bones at Yale?"

Veronica nodded in reply. "And that little bit of B&E I mentioned the other night? Why Jake wasn't happy with me? That was because I broke into his house and stole a hard drive with not only every member's name, but also videotaped confessions of their deepest, darkest secrets—many of which involved criminal activity. That was how I found out about Sorokin's unsavory past and that his family was part of the mob."

Logan closed his eyes again, moving his arms down so his hands were gripping the edge of the counter tightly; Veronica could even see his knuckles turning white. From his reaction, she guessed that this little bit of information was not what he had wanted to hear. His brows were furrowed in a deep V, and he clenched his jaws tightly again.

Veronica cringed before she continued. " _And_ I used the information about the Sorokins to make a deal to ensure that Gory didn't retaliate after your beat down in the cafeteria."

Logan opened his eyes as he blew out a long, slow breath. He shook his head in obvious frustration. " _Thanks_?" he said dryly, more as a question than a statement.

"You're welcome," she replied tersely, unsure of what else to say to that.

"So... you were worried that Duncan may have done something to negate the deal you made." This time it was clear that Logan was stating that as a fact, rather than a question.

"Yeah," Veronica replied hesitantly, still upset about Logan's earlier reaction. "But Duncan's been gone so long... I doubt he'd know about our issues with Gory, let alone use that as some way to come between us."

"Yeah, because at this point things between us are so _fucking great_ ," Logan immediately grumbled out and then shook his head quickly. He dragged his hand through his hair, sending it in all directions. "Sorry. It's been a fucked up day; I know I'm not handling this well at all."

"No, you're not," Veronica snapped back, knowing that probably wouldn't help the situation at all, but it wasn't like all of this was her fault either.

Logan clenched his jaw and shook his head slightly. She could tell he had just held himself back from saying something that she assumed would only make things worse.

"Since we're being _honest_ ," Logan said a few seconds later. "I _do_ believe that Duncan would use whatever resources he has at his disposal to come between us. There's something different about him now... I can't put my finger on it, but he's not the same easygoing guy we grew up with. Something's... _different_."

Veronica scrunched up her face in disagreement, but before she could say anything, Logan was speaking again.

"Maybe he's not like that when he's been around just you, or maybe you just can't see it, but _I_ _can_ ," Logan interjected adamantly. "And I don't think he's as innocent as you think he is."

"I never said I thought he was _innocent_ ," Veronica countered. "It's obvious he was trying to convince me that being with you was a bad idea."

" _Is it_?" Logan asked, pinning her with a questioning glare.

Veronica let out a sigh and stared defiantly back at him. "They don't write songs about the ones that come easy," she replied grimly, not really answering directly, but hoping he understood what she was trying to convey. Unfortunately she was still a little too angry to just back down and the quote seemed like one way to get her true feelings expressed.

Logan's expression softened for a brief second as he must have remembered the reference, but his frown returned all too quickly.

"He may say things and try to put us in an uncomfortable position, but do you really believe that he would do something _extreme_ to get his way?" Veronica asked, working hard to temper her confrontational tone. It was Duncan they were talking about after all.

Based on the anguished look on Logan's face as he swallowed hard, she realized that Logan did think that Duncan would do just that to come between them. She furrowed her brows, wondering what he might know that she didn't. Maybe it was her turn to be the one asking for the truth now.

"Do you actually have _proof_ to the contrary?" she asked, carefully watching Logan for his reaction.

Logan pushed himself off the counter and walked closer to her, but instead of sitting next to her, he took a seat on the other couch that jutted out from the one she was on.

"He's a _Kane_ , Veronica," Logan told her very somberly. "You know as well as anyone that they think they're entitled to whatever they want, and they won't stop until they get whatever that might be."

Veronica thought back to how Lilly used to behave. She'd certainly taken whatever she wanted with little regard for anyone else. Then there was Jake. It was fair to say that he'd acted as though he didn't have to answer to anyone. He'd kept up his affair with Lianne for years, and had even gone so far as breaking the law to cover up the real details of Lilly's death. Who knew what sorts of things he'd done with his connections to the Castle members and their resources.

Logan shifted on the couch so his elbows were resting on his knees, holding his head with his hands. He exhaled loudly and then he looked up at her and spoke again. "I think Duncan may have had something to do with Aaron's death. If not him it could have been Jake—maybe Duncan just knew about it, but my money's still on Duncan because I don't think Jake would have told Duncan about it, even if Duncan hadn't been on the run."

" _Duncan_?" Veronica asked incredulously. She honestly wouldn't have been surprised, given the circumstances, if Jake had something to do with it. But she never would have expected Duncan, and couldn't imagine why Logan would think that.

"I never told anyone this, but I got a text message from an unknown number right after Aaron was shot. Given what happened with Cassidy, I didn't see it until much later, but the time on the message, it was from _before_ the news broke. It was a quote. _Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged_."

Of course, given Lamb's complete and utter incompetence, Aaron's death had remained officially unsolved. Personally, Veronica had always suspected that Lamb had been paid not to look too deeply into it. She'd certainly not lost any sleep over Aaron's murder, and since Logan hadn't seemed to want to talk about it, they'd pretty much just avoided the topic all summer. She had to admit Jake being involved had crossed her mind a time or twenty. But Duncan? She had never considered him for even a second. _But isn't that exactly the point that Logan keeps trying to make?_

"So _yeah_ , I do believe Duncan would do something _extreme_ to get his way," Logan added when Veronica still hadn't said anything in response. "I wish you could open your eyes and really _see_ him, Veronica. There's so much more beneath the surface than what you seem to be willing to admit. And I'm sure he thinks he can just take whatever he wants. Just look at what he's been doing with Astrid, all the while trying to convince _you_ to be with him again."

"What?" Veronica asked in confusion. Not seeing at all what Astrid had to do with any of it.

Logan let out a bitter scoff and shook his head. "Duncan's obviously been sleeping with Astrid the entire time he's been trying to win you back. You couldn't have missed her reaction tonight."

"I thought…" Veronica started and then stopped, shaking her head in disbelief.

"No, _of course not_! You were so focused on trying to gauge her reaction to me that you missed the bigger elephant in the room," Logan replied, his tone becoming inflamed again. "Because _Logan's_ always the one who fucks up, and _Duncan's_ perfect." He stood up abruptly, startling Veronica for a second. "I need some air," he said tersely as he turned and headed out the cabin door, letting it slam loudly behind him.

* * *

Logan peered out across the water at Avalon, the sparkling lights from the town's waterfront establishments dotting the landscape. He gripped the deck railing tightly, wishing the day had gone differently—that he'd acted differently.

Even though Veronica had told him just the night before that he was the one she wanted, he still couldn't shake the jealousy he felt whenever she blindly defended Duncan. And it happened every damn time. If her defense of Duncan at Shelly's party hadn't been enough, her not even noticing what had been obviously going on with Duncan and Astrid had put him over the edge. Then there was the whole Russian mob topic that she'd sidestepped until he'd forced her to be honest about it. Some things never changed, and maybe Veronica Mars was one of those.

"Calculating whether you can swim to shore?" Veronica's voice suddenly rang out from beside him. With the waves crashing against the yacht, he hadn't even heard her approach. He jumped slightly, startled by her sudden appearance.

"Sorry," she muttered softly. "I didn't mean to scare you." Logan turned and studied her intently, this girl he loved—would always love. Why were they always so hard on each other?

"It's okay," he replied, turning away from her to stare across the water again. Even with how much her unwavering support of Duncan bothered him, it still didn't justify the way he'd acted inside. "I'm sorry, too. For getting so angry— _again_ ," he told her sincerely, hoping it was enough to convince her.

"Well, I _am_ usually the one to storm out in a huff, so you've sort of been stealing my shtick today… _but_ I can also understand why," she responded in the tone that she always used when she was trying to lighten up an uncomfortable situation.

Logan let out a defeated sigh as he closed his eyes for a moment. "I wish I was some totally mature, emotionally stable guy that wouldn't keep putting you in these situations, but apparently I'm not."

"Hey, the fact that you're self-aware enough to even want that says a lot. I don't think you should be so hard on yourself," Veronica told him reassuringly as she gently bumped her shoulder into his.

He turned and looked down at her again, receiving a small tentative smile in return.

"So you're _not_ plotting an escape?" she asked again, her eyebrow rising slightly, an almost mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Logan huffed out a defeated laugh and shook his head.

"Good," she replied, her expression softening as she continued to look intently into his eyes. "I know you probably think that walking out is better than continuing to escalate whatever we're disagreeing on, but—and I can't believe _I'm_ about to say this—but running from your troubles doesn't always work out so well either."

"I just… I don't trust myself not to say something—if I haven't already—that will completely fuck everything up beyond repair. I don't want to lose you again," he told her honestly.

"For what it's worth, I'm afraid of losing you again, too… so maybe that's a start at least, right?"

Her confession made him feel a little better, but it still didn't solve any of the issues they were facing.

"So, what now?" Logan asked, frustration over their current situation coming through in his tone.

Veronica let out a deep sigh and turned to stare out at the city lights. "I suppose we can't just stay out here forever and avoid it all, can we?" she asked, a hint of sarcastic humor slipping through even though she was clearly feeling frustrated as well.

"Commuting to Hearst might be difficult, and I think your dad would be a bit upset if you just quit," he replied dryly, also turning to stare out at Avalon again.

"Both valid points," Veronica agreed with a soft sigh. "So I guess we need to figure out what to do about Duncan and Gory then. Given what you shared inside, maybe I wasn't totally off-base with being a little worried about that."

"You _believe_ me?" Logan asked, turning to face her again. He was a little dumbfounded that she could so readily just take him for his word considering how things in the not so distant past had been between them.

"Yes," she replied, her expression becoming conciliatory as she also turned to face him. "Whoever sent you that text had to have inside information, and given it was a quote, it does seem likely that Duncan sent it. He'd have the motivation and means to make it happen." She paused and a slightly pained look crossing her face. "And about Astrid, too… I um… I never thought to question why she was so willing to help us—help _him_ —get Lilly out of the country."

"Oh," Logan responded, surprised. He hadn't know that Astrid had played a role in Duncan's departure. "He um… Duncan didn't… not with us that night…" he stuttered out, realizing what she may have thought based on what he'd blurted out inside. "I don't know if something happened later between the two of them, though."

"I um… I know that you weren't happy that I was more focused on trying to figure out Astrid's reaction to you rather than to Duncan, but that's because I love you; that jealous, irrational voice inside my thick skull takes over at times like that," she confessed, her brows furrowing slightly as she looked at him with an uneasy expression. Obviously being this honest with him was difficult for her, but he was grateful that she was actually trying. "I don't care who Duncan may have slept with—or is currently sleeping with. It doesn't matter to me. _You_ matter to me."

Logan let out a deep breath and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. Her arms immediately wrapped around his waist, hugging him back. "I love you, too," Logan said quietly before placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"So, can we try to go a little easier on each other?" Veronica asked, her voice tender.

"Yeah," Logan answered as he let out a soft huff and squeezed her a little tighter. The fact that he'd said nearly the same thing to her the year before was not lost on him. "Maybe we should get that engraved on a plaque or something."

"Hmm… cross-stitched onto a wall hanging?" Veronica teasingly mused back.

"Or a decorative pillow?" Logan offered, feeling some of the tension from earlier finally melting from his body.

"That sounds more practical. We can get a matching set and then throw them at each other when we're angry," Veronica agreed, pulling away slightly so she could look up at him, a coy grin flitting across her lips.

"It means a lot to me that you believe me," he confessed, earnestly.

Her lips quirked up on one side as she reached up and stroked his cheek, her fingers lingering there for a few seconds before tangling gently in his hair. "I know how important me trusting you is, and I'm sorry that I've had such a hard time always doing that."

"Suspicion _does_ seem to be part of the Mars DNA," Logan replied ruefully. "I don't expect that to ever completely go away, but it really does mean a lot to me when you have a little faith."

Veronica's expression softened even more as she tipped up on her toes to press her lips against his. His anxiety from earlier rapidly diminishing with every second that they stood there, kissing on the deck of the yacht. The wind must have changed direction and he could faintly make out music coming from the island now. It sounded fun, carefree. They'd made enough headway with open communication for one evening. He didn't want to let Duncan infiltrate even one more moment of their night.

"Hey," he said softly after breaking the kiss. "Since the night's still young, could we just push pause on dealing with the latest developments in our drama filled lives? We could take a water taxi to shore and go have some fun. Maybe go to a club and dance, or just go get some dessert. Not that the twinkies you tossed in the basket at the marina wouldn't be delicious, but I'm sure we could find something better than that."

Veronica let out a soft laugh and then nodded. "Yeah, now that we've fallen off the grid, let's make the most of it. Duncan will still be a thorn in our side tomorrow, but for tonight, I'd love to not think about him anymore." She narrowed her eyes slightly before she continued. "Are there actually water taxis though, or are you just teasing me?"

Logan's smile broadened as he nodded. "You don't think all the elitists on these multi-million dollar yachts actually want to just sit in the middle of the bay all day and night, do you?" he asked as a devilish grin formed on his lips.

Veronica shrugged and scrunched up her face in reply.

"Well, the answer is no," Logan informed her, with a wink.

* * *

The water taxi captain who picked them up recommended Luau Larry's as a good place for live music, an interesting collection of libations and delicious food. After the day she'd had, a strong drink sounded good to Veronica, but she definitely wasn't planning on getting carried away like she had the prior weekend. She certainly didn't want to spend another night on anyone's bathroom floor, not even a million dollar yacht. And quite conveniently, Luau Larry's was located right across the street from the pier where they disembarked the shuttle boat.

"Well they certainly have some interesting drink names," Logan commented, perusing the menu from their small table by the bar.

Veronica smirked and nodded in reply. "Did you not want to get your Wiki Wacked?" she teased, glancing at the couple at the next table wearing large straw hats. They were holding up their drinks and stickers that read 'I got my Wiki Wacked at Luau Larry's' while posing for a photo that the waitress was taking for them.

"Not in public," Logan quipped back with a wolfish grin. After the day they'd had, it was a huge relief to see him lighten up, even if it was just a brief reprieve from dealing with the reality of their seemingly always turbulent lives.

"Hmm… likewise on the ' _Tie Me to the Bedpost_ '?" she asked, waggling her brows at him suggestively.

He let out a soft chuckle before leaning into her, his lips tickling the shell of her ear. "I'll gladly let you do either— _or both_ —when we're back on the yacht," he whispered huskily, sending a shiver up her spine. He must have noticed her reaction because he laughed softly as he placed a slow kiss on her neck under her ear and then sat back, looking at the menu again.

"Buffalo Milk, Tasmanian Zombie, Kaanapali Curb Jumper… how's a girl to choose?" she mused, tilting her head, her tone overly dramatic as if it really was the hardest decision in the world.

Logan snickered and shook his head. "Given the way today's gone, I think a drink for the undead might be fitting," Logan commented, setting his menu down on the table and looking up at her again.

"All right, you go for the Tasmanian Zombie and I'll try the Buffalo Milk, because that one just sounds yummy. Bananas and cocoa, I may not even make you get me dessert after that," she teased as she looked up at him with a playful smile.

The band had been on a break when they were seated, but returned right after the waitress stopped by for their drink orders. There was a small dance floor where a few couples had already congregated to dance as the band was gearing up to play again.

"We didn't get to finish our dance the other night," Logan reminded her, his grin only slightly teasing.

"Sorry 'bout that," Veronica replied, having remembered just enough to know she'd more or less passed out when they were on the dance floor together. "Make it up to you now?" she asked, holding her hand out for his. The song that the band had just started to play was a bit of a folky rock song that Veronica vaguely remembered hearing somewhere before.

Logan nodded and took her hand, leading her out onto the dance floor and then pulling her tightly against his body as the lyrics started.

 ** _A/N - You can find Ray LaMontagne's 'You Are The Best Thing' song on YouTube if you want to listen along._**

 _Baby—It's been a long day, baby—Things ain't been going my way—And now I need you here—To clear my mind all the time—And baby—The way you move me, it's crazy—It's like you see right through me—And make it easier—Believe me, you don't even have to try—Oh, because—You are the best thing … Ever happened to me._

Logan must have known the song because he sang along to it perfectly, whispering the lyrics in her ear as he slowly spun her around the dance floor.

 _Baby—We've come a long way—And baby—You know I hope and I pray—That you believe me—When I say this love will never fade away._

Even though there were quite a few other couples dancing, with her eyes closed and her body pressed against his, Veronica felt like they were in their own private little world. _Why can't things always be this simple? No outside forces plotting to take us down. Just the two of us, wrapped in each other's arms. My favorite place to be._

As the final notes of the song started to play, Logan pressed a slow tender kiss against her temple. "You really _are_ the best thing that's ever happened to me," he told her reverently as he squeezed her a little tighter and nuzzled his face against the side of her head. She turned so that she could look in his eyes. She felt exactly the same way.

"Ditto," she said softly leaning in to press a quick kiss to his lips.

Logan reached up and gently stroked her cheek, smiling lovingly at her. "I um… I think our drinks are at the table," he muttered out, gesturing slightly with his head toward their seats.

She took a second to kiss him one more time before he wrapped his arm across her shoulders and lead her back to their spot near the bar.

* * *

"To new beginnings," Veronica offered as she lifted her glass up and held it out to Logan. Smiling, he nodded and clinked his glass against hers as he repeated her toast.

Their trip to the island had proven to be the perfect, temporary diversion from all the angst of earlier that day. Logan had always lamented that they'd never made it over to Catalina when they'd dated in high school, but after the first failed attempt, he'd never tried it again. In some ways it felt like they'd finally come full circle earlier that day with learning the truth about the incident that had prevented her from joining him the first time.

Back in high school, it had been hard enough to learn that she thought she'd been raped. The fact that she'd accused him of being involved had only added insult to injury. He remembered when she'd confessed to him that she'd been with Duncan that night at Shelly's—but just couldn't remember it—that it hadn't set right with him at the time. It still didn't now. Even all these years later, hearing the whole story just amplified all the anger he'd initially felt. He'd done his best to bury all of that while they were on the island together, but as the evening wore on, he'd found he couldn't completely ignore everything that had happened earlier in the day.

As they rode in the shuttle boat back to his yacht, he found himself once again trying to push those thoughts out of his head. As a countermeasure he made himself focus on how great the evening had turned out despite the earlier events. They'd danced, enjoyed dessert and had a couple more drinks before they'd decided to call it a night. He still had no idea what they were going to do about their potential Duncan-Gory problem, but at least for tonight, he really did want to try to not worry about it. Of course wanting something and being able to make it happen didn't always go hand in hand. Veronica had been upbeat and flirty at the bar, so he'd focused on that to tune out any negative thoughts that had passed through his head when they were at Luau Larry's, but when they got out on the water they'd both gotten noticeably quiet again. Logan wondered if Veronica might also have started reflecting on the events from earlier in the day as well. He wondered if she was feeling the same way he was.

"I'm glad we finally made it out here," Veronica shared unexpectedly as she turned from staring out at the island to look at Logan instead. Her lips curled up into an affectionate smile as she reached up to stroke his cheek—definitely not the more contemplative expression he'd expected. "It was just perfect. Thank you."

Logan knew Veronica could certainly put on an a performance when the need arose, but he had no doubt with the way she was looking at him that she was being completely sincere. She didn't seem to be letting anything that had happened earlier ruin the evening for her. Logan nodded in reply and leaned forward, placing a slow tender kiss on her forehead. Even with how terrible he'd acted earlier and everything else that had happened that day, she somehow seemed to be able to put that aside and just enjoy their break from the chaos.

Logan gently brushed a hand across the side of her head. "We can come back anytime you'd like. All you have to do is ask."

"Now that I know how _magical_ it is, I'll certainly take you up on that offer," Veronica replied coyly.

He couldn't help but smile at the thought of even more trips out there with her. Even if they just spent time anchored in some secluded bay, getting away from the bedlam of their lives in Neptune would be a welcome change. _Could it be that easy this time, though? Normal dates and uninterrupted moments?_ Logan wanted more than anything to believe it could, but after the day they'd had he wasn't convinced that it would. _No one writes songs about the ones that come easy._

He must have unintentionally projected his apprehension through his expression, because Veronica furrowed her brows slightly.

"The night's not over and you and I out here alone is the only thing that matters to me right now. Can we please just enjoy that and deal with the rest of the world tomorrow?" she asked as she cupped his face with both hands.

"Yeah," he answered softly with a slight nod. He really did want to be able to do that for her.

Her expression softened as she leaned forward and captured his lips with her own. He felt the tension that had started building inside of his body melt away as they kissed. All he could think about at that moment was how incredible it felt kissing her. His hands seemed to move on their own volition to pull her even closer, one landing gently on the back of her head and the other around her petite waist. He felt her moan against his mouth as their kissing quickly deepened.

The sound of someone clearing their throat loudly broke them apart abruptly.

"We're here," the boat captain announced as Logan instinctively tried to hide Veronica's suddenly embarrassed face his hands.

Logan gave her a tight smile before kissing her forehead and standing up first. As he reached for his wallet to pay the captain, Veronica tossed out a quick thank you before scurrying up the ladder to the deck of his yacht.

"Here you go, and thanks," Logan told the obviously amused captain as he handed the older man a twenty dollar bill.

"Let me get your change," the captain offered as he took the bill out of Logan's hand.

"It's fine," Logan replied as he quickly started to disembark in the same direction that Veronica had gone. He heard the captain inform him that the fare was only eight dollars, but Logan just waved dismissively as he began to climb the ladder. The captain chuckled loudly before wishing them an enjoyable evening.

The door to the cabin was ajar, so Logan headed inside, closing it behind himself. Veronica was standing in the doorway to the bedroom. She had a playful pout on her lips causing him to raise his eyebrows questioningly.

"There's no bed posts," she informed him with an overly exaggerated disappointed whine. "You said I could tie you to them when we got back."

Logan let out a surprised laugh and then looked at her apologetically. "I'll be sure to have some installed for our next trip." His apologetic smile morphed into a wolfish grin as he continued. "Although I'm sure there's some rope on board if you'd like to tie me up anyway."

Veronica glanced over her shoulder back into the bedroom for a few seconds . "Hmm, I suppose I could improvise with the headboard," she shared with a mischievous lilt.

Logan wasn't sure if she was only teasing, but it was enough to make his pulse quicken. He swallowed hard, trying to keep his composure.

"Well, don't make me wait," she scolded a second later when he hadn't reacted.

Logan blew out a deep slow breath as he nodded and then headed back out to the deck, thankful that he knew where the extra rope was stored.

 ** _A/N - Fun fact - when I was searching for a song to use for the bar scene, I stumbled across the one I ended up using. Apparently it was used in Bad Moms (which I still haven't had a chance to see), so of course I just had to use it._**


	9. Chapter 9

**_I'm still slowly working on this one and glad it didn't take as long for an update as last time. I've even started working on the next Rocky Shores chapter, which I'm sure many of you will be happy to hear. Thanks to everyone who's still out there reading! And thanks to Bondopoulos for all her help and support._**

 ** _Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas._**

The sensation of waking up on a boat felt quite foreign to Veronica. She slowly opened her eyes to figure out if it was morning yet, only needing a second to discover that sunlight was already starting to flood the room. She quickly shut her eyes again tightly. She wasn't really ready to face the day, but it wasn't realistic to think she could just stay in bed all day either. She could hear Logan's deep rhythmic breathing coming from behind her on the bed, his arm draped loosely over her waist. She felt a slight chill on her bare shoulder and grabbed blindly at the duvet to pull it up a bit higher. As she moved her hand back up to rest on her pillow, the tips of her fingers brushed against the rope that they'd never gotten around to completely untying from the headboard. She couldn't help the salacious grin that spread across her face as she ran her fingers over the smooth nylon, thinking back to the night before. She'd strongly suggested that Logan needed to buy a fancy bed with bed posts when he got around to furnishing his new place. Even though he'd been unable to form a coherent sentence at the time, she was pretty sure he'd agreed based on the strained noises he'd choked out.

Her blissful recollection was fleeting though as the reality of their lives started to seep back into her consciousness. She still had no idea what to do about Duncan and Gory. She'd initially convinced herself that she had overreacted, but then the new revelation from Logan about Aaron's death had her second guessing that assessment. Although, the more she thought about it, the more she couldn't quite equate vengeance for Lilly's death on the same level as her choosing to be with Logan instead of Duncan. While Duncan obviously wasn't thrilled by her choice, it was hard for her to believe that he would actually consider doing something terrible in retaliation. She certainly didn't want to underestimate him, but she didn't want to live on the edge of paranoia either. She suddenly realized what it must be like to be Logan—always worrying about her safety and keeping her out of harm's way. She really wasn't liking the feeling of helplessness and the inability to control whatever might happen to him. And good or bad, neither of them were the type to just sit idly by either.

Her ruminations were interrupted by a change in Logan's breathing and a tightening of his arm around her waist. She felt his lips first press against her shoulder before he slowly kissed his way up to her neck.

"Morning," she mumbled sleepily, tilting her head slightly to give him better access. He muttered a soft good morning back to her, his lips still brushing across her skin.

Her fingers curled around the rope, and she pulled it down to teasingly brush across his wrist that was pressed against her stomach. She felt him chuckle as he realized what she was doing.

"Mm… I think it should be _my_ turn to tie _you_ up," he suggested, his voice heavy with desire.

Veronica bit on her lip, unchaste thoughts quickly flooding her mind. "That's only fair," she purred as she rolled over to face him, bringing the rope up to hand off to him.

A momentary flash of uncertainty crossed Logan's features as he stared intently at her. She shot him a sultry grin before leaning closer to nip at his bottom lip. "You'd better not hesitate too long, or I'll be tying _you_ up again instead," she teased as she tapped him on the chin with the end of the rope.

He let out a low growl before snatching the rope out of her hand and pressing an extremely heated, passionate kiss to her lips. He continued kissing her as he took her wrists in his hand and stretched them over her head; both of them shifted their bodies slightly so that she was now flat on her back and he was half hovering over her and half resting on the bed. She could feel him start to wrap the rope around her wrists in a circle eight pattern, still focusing on kissing her. After the rope was more or less in place, he finally pulled his mouth away from hers so he could look at what he was doing above her head. She placed kisses along his chest since his head was turned away from her, nipping him a few times as well. She could feel him shiver and take a shaky breath each time she nipped at him, which emboldened her to do it even more.

It didn't take long for Logan to secure her wrists and to shift his head back down to hers. With his much larger frame, it was easy for him to keep one hand up by her wrists, tenderly stroking her skin near the rope as he went back to kissing her fervidly. His other hand slid down her body, sensually touching her as he traced a path along the outside of her far arm all the way down to her thigh. He'd complained the night before about it being torture to not touch her while he was tied up, and she could tell he was overcompensating for that now. She whimpered and writhed slightly, wanting him to do more than just touch her. He seemed to be enjoying it, though, and so he continued teasing her until she finally pleaded breathlessly for more.

"I seem to remember you tormenting me for much longer," he huskily laughed against her neck, scraping his teeth teasingly along her clavicle. "I haven't even started using my mouth yet,"

She let out a shaky moan, causing him to snicker slightly before he kissed his way lower down her chest. He hadn't been lying about using his mouth, and she was at least relieved that he didn't make her suffer too much longer before providing some relief from the tension that he'd built up with his ministrations. After sliding away from her for a bit to collect one of the condoms on the nightstand, he ended up back in a similar position to how he'd started; one arm stretched out so he could tangle his fingers with hers, his thumb back to gently caressing around and under the rope. The rope had been her idea and he'd never objected, but she wondered if there wasn't something now about it that unsettled him. While he wasn't distracted by whatever it might be, the way he kept gently stroking her wrists and perhaps checking to make sure they weren't hurting her, didn't go unnoticed by her. Even when he settled between her legs, he continued to keep tenderly brushing his fingers along her wrists.

The ropes weren't actually secured very tightly, and after they'd both climaxed, Veronica slipped her hands out and brought them down to tangle into his hair. He was panting against her chest, supporting himself as much as he could so he didn't crush her, but she could tell he was exhausted. She tipped her head, feathering his forehead with light kisses as he breathed heavily against her neck. After a few moments though, he turned his head first to one side and then the other, placing gentle kisses on her wrists.

She wasn't sure if he needed some reassurance, but decided to provide some anyway. "All good. No marks or anything," she shared with a slightly teasing tone.

Logan exhaled slowly and buried his face against her neck again. "I just don't want to accidently hurt you—ever." After a momentary pause he continued on even more quietly. "Physically or emotionally— _ever_ again."

 _I can't take that I hurt you when all I want to do is protect you._ Veronica had believed him then and even though it was hard to always remind herself of that when they struggled through later difficulties, deep down she knew he would never do anything intentionally to hurt her. Having so many of those past issues thrown at them in the last twenty-four hours hadn't been easy for either of them. Of course Logan's affinity for taking on guilt had always far outweighed her own.

"I know you won't," Veronica whispered reassuringly before placing a tender kiss on his temple.

Logan tipped his head up and looked her intently in the eyes. Obviously trying to gauge whether she really believed what she'd just said. She tried to convey her utmost confidence in him as she smiled lovingly back at him before pressing her lips to his.

"I love you so much, Veronica," Logan mumbled after the kiss, his voice heavy with emotion.

"I love you too," she replied, wondering why that had always been so difficult for her to admit before; but now—this time—she had no reservations at all. "And no matter what the world throws at us, that's never going to change."

* * *

Veronica walked to the edge of the lawn, staring out at the large expanse of Pacific Ocean that lay in front of her. Even though the house was located up on a cliff, she could still make out the sound of the waves crashing on the boulders below. This had been the third house they'd visited that afternoon, and the detective in her told her it would probably be the last. The way Logan's eyes had lit up when they'd first walked through the front door hadn't gone unnoticed by her. She'd actually felt it too, something warm and inviting that went beyond just the architecture and location. Even though the property wasn't actually beachfront, there was a well worn path that lead from a gate at the back of the fenced yard down to the very north end of Dog Beach; although she could tell Logan had fallen in love with it before he even learned about that convenient feature.

Since this was Logan's decision, as well as his purchase, she'd snuck off when the realtor had started talking with him when they were done touring the inside of the house. Unlike the other two they'd already seen, this one was completely empty, the prior owners having moved back East months before. While she'd gladly shared some of her thoughts about this house, as she also had at the others, she'd tried not to be too obvious about how much she really did love it too.

Veronica continued walking until she reached the gate that opened to the path down to the beach and leaned against it, continuing to appreciate the magnificent view.

"So," Logan muttered hesitantly as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder. "The realtor said there were a few other couples here earlier this morning that seemed quite interested—if _we_ are seriously interested we should act quickly—her words, not mine."

The corner of Veronica's lips quirked up slightly. "Well, _are we_?" she asked coyly, still staring out at the ocean.

Logan sucked in a steadying breath before he continued. "If I were to buy this house, could you see yourself—sometime in the future of course—living here?"

"You mean after you're done with it?" she asked, her devious smile not matching the innocent tone she'd used to ask the question at all, but he couldn't see her face from his current position.

Logan let out a soft chuckle and tipped his head to place a kiss at the juncture of her shoulder and neck. "Well I'd sort of hoped I'd still be here too… but that might be a bit too much to wish for."

"A guy should never give up on his dreams," she replied demurely as she finally turned in his arms so she could gaze up at him.

"Is that a yes?" he asked with one eyebrow cocked questioningly.

"It's not a no," she answered as her smile broadened even more.

"I _really_ like it," he said, the earlier hesitation in his tone definitely giving way to excitement. "And given my, um… financial position… she was certain she could expedite the closing process."

"I really like it too," Veronica confessed, earning a silent celebratory 'yes' from Logan. She laughed softly and shook her head at him. " _But_ … it's a big decision. Are you sure you want to jump into this so quickly? Maybe you should look around a bit more. It's only the third place you've seen."

"I'm positive this is the house I want, Veronica," Logan replied, sounding more confident by the second. "And I know you were trying to play it all cool inside, but you're not that good at concealing _all_ of your thoughts." He gave her a little wink before placing a quick kiss on the tip of her nose.

Veronica harrumphed and rolled her eyes playfully in response.

"So… any chance you could carve out some more of your time to shop for furniture with me?" Logan asked, eyebrow quirked again.

Veronica let out a soft chuckle. "Well I wouldn't want you to end up with a lazy-boy recliner in the middle of the living room pointed at an obnoxiously large TV, so I'm sure I could sacrifice some time to help you out."

"Now that you mention it…" Logan replied, his expression insinuating he was seriously considering the idea.

Veronica poked Logan playfully in the stomach, eliciting a loud laugh from him. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"All right, I concede… only Veronica approved furniture choices will be entering through that threshold."

* * *

After spending a fair amount of time at the realtor's office, they'd decided to make a short stop at Jake and Lianne's place ahead of getting ready to go to dinner. Veronica had reasoned that the excuse of needing to leave to make their dinner reservations sounded plausible, even though they were only going to dinner at Momma Leone's, which didn't actually take reservations.

Unsurprisingly, the house Jake had bought was in the most prestigious beachfront section of Neptune. Logan had joked about how disappointing it was that they weren't going to be neighbors and that maybe he should have waited to find something on their street instead. He seemed quite amused by the dirty look Veronica had shot him for even insinuating such a thing.

As they pulled up to the large circular driveway, Veronica spotted a BMW similar to the one Duncan had driven the first night they were together, yet this one was white instead of black.

"Do you think they had a matching set, like salt and pepper shakers that they split up after the divorce?" Veronica asked gesturing to the car.

"If black and white represent good and evil, I really can't see either of them deserving the good version," Logan commented as he parked and turned off his car.

Veronica quirked an eyebrow at him. "Should I be concerned that you picked a black Range Rover then?"

"You already know what a bad boy I can be," Logan teased as he gave her a salacious wink and climbed out the of the car.

Logan pressed a kiss to Veronica's head as she pushed the doorbell. He'd been in such a great mood that afternoon, especially when compared to how the day before had gone. They'd discussed ideas for his new house as they' driven from the realtor's office to Jake and Lianne's. The realtor was fairly confident, given the situation with the house already being empty and Logan's financing, that she could probably get all of the official documents processed by the end of Monday. Unfortunately, it was the weekend, so she was doubtful they'd be able to go much faster than that. That hadn't discouraged Logan at all, and in preparation for him being able to move in, they'd decided to spend some time the following day going furniture shopping.

As Veronica stood waiting for her mom or Jake to answer the door, she hoped some of Logan's buoyant mood would seep into her as well. She wasn't really looking forward to this visit, but decided she'd better just get it out of the way. Despite how positive Veronica was attempting to be, all her good will was immediately washed away when the door opened and Duncan stood staring back at them.

"DK?" Logan blurted out before Veronica could speak, obviously sounding as surprised to see Duncan as she was. "Didn't expect to see you here today," Logan continued.

Veronica was further surprised by the lack of apprehension in Logan's voice as he reached out his hand to shake Duncan's. If it hadn't been for his arm tightening slightly around her waist, she would have thought he was genuinely happy to see Duncan.

"Yeah, Lilly and I came by to see my dad," Duncan explained as he shook Logan's hand and gave Veronica a small smile.

"Right," Logan continued as Duncan gestured for them to come in. "How crazy is it that in the very near future, the two of you are going to _actually_ be siblings?" Logan asked as they walked in and Duncan closed the door behind them.

Veronica wasn't sure what exactly Logan was up to, so she remained silent, just watching the other two carefully. Logan's comment did cause Duncan to look slightly uneasy, his brows crinkling slightly.

"Yeah… I guess," Duncan replied, glancing briefly at Veronica before focusing on Logan again.

"Well, you _will_ be step-siblings once your parents get married," Logan added, glancing down at Veronica. "And you'll get to be a real aunt to little Lilly."

"Yeah, I will," Veronica replied, still a little uncertain about where Logan was going with his current approach.

"Sweetheart!" Lianne called out as she swiftly moved toward where they were still standing in the foyer. "I'm so glad you were able to stop by today," she added as she swooped in past Duncan to hug Veronica. "And Logan," Lianne continued after releasing her embrace on Veronica and opening her arms toward him, "it's so good to see you again too."

Logan gave her a warm smile as he leaned in to hug her as well. "Nice to see you too," Logan replied, his tone one Veronica knew had been reserved for kissing up to adults when they were younger. Of course he had rarely tried it on her dad, likely knowing Keith would see right through it.

"I was just making some lemonade in the kitchen for all of us when you rang the bell and Duncan offered to get it for me. I can give you a quick tour of part of the house on our way to retrieve it and then we can join the others out on the patio," Lianne suggested as she beamed at Logan and Veronica.

"Sounds good to me," Veronica replied as she manuevered herself to be next to Logan again. He immediately wrapped his arm around her waist and placed a quick kiss on her temple.

Veronica had wondered if Duncan would excuse himself to join the others, but instead he silently followed them as Lianne pointed out the living room and dining room before leading them into the kitchen.

"Wow, that's a gorgeous kitchen table," Veronica commented as she saw the distressed wood farmhouse style table. "We should look for something like that for the house," she continued as she looked up at Logan with a sly grin.

"You two are living together?" Lianne asked, opening her eyes wide in surprise.

Veronica snuck a glance at Duncan whose expression mirrored Lianne's.

"Well not _officially_ … not yet," Veronica quickly answered, feeling a little thrill from shocking both her mother and Duncan in one fell swoop. "Logan bought a new house and I'm helping him decorate it." As Veronica turned to look up at Logan, she could easily see the same little mischievous twinkle in his eyes that she was sure was in hers.

"Who would have thought that Veronica Mars would have such a keen eye for interior decorating," Logan responded with an amused tone.

"Well I'm sure Gemma—oh, she's the interior designer we hired—would love to help you if you need any assistance at all. She's had just the best ideas for furnishing this place. Actually that table was one she recommended," Lianne explained, her momentary shock being replaced by jubilance again.

Before Veronica or Logan had a chance to reply, the sound of footsteps running toward them preceded Lilly yelling out 'Daddy'.

"Right here, sweetie," Duncan replied as Lilly entered the kitchen, heading straight to Duncan so he could scoop her up.

"Come play," Lilly demanded, a determined look on her face.

"Hey, look, Veronica and Logan are here," Duncan told her as he spun so Lilly was facing toward them. "You remember them from yesterday, right? Maybe Veronica wants to play with you again."

"No," Lilly answered, shaking her head firmly. "I wanna play with you and Nonny." The toddler started pushing and wiggling in Duncan's arms so he put her back down on the ground where she immediately grabbed his hand. "Come play with me and Nonny."

"We'll all come back out to the patio," Lianne suggested as she grabbed the pitcher of lemonade from the counter.

"I can carry that for you," Logan offered, reaching to take the pitcher from Veronica's mom.

"Thank you, Logan," Lianne replied with a grateful smile, handing it off to him and reaching for a stack of glasses.

Duncan was still facing the other adults as Lilly tugged on his arm.

" _Nonny_?" Veronica asked, wondering who else might be there.

"That's what Lilly calls me," Astrid responded, suddenly appearing in the doorway to the kitchen.

 _Nonny? How much time has Astrid spent with Duncan and Lilly?_

"Nonny!" Lilly called out happily as she pulled Duncan toward Astrid. "Daddy play too," she told Astrid as she reached up and took a hold of her hand as well.

Astrid gave Veronica and Logan a polite smile before she turned and let Lilly lead them back the way they'd come.

Lianne's cell phone rang just as Duncan, Astrid and Lilly had disappeared from view.

"Oh, it's Gemma. She was checking into a few things for me," Lianne explained, glancing at the phone screen.

"We can take this out to the others," Veronica suggested as she reached to take the glasses from Lianne. She figured it couldn't be too hard to find the patio.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Lianne replied, handing the glasses off to Veronica before answering the call.

Logan gestured for Veronica to lead the way in the direction that the other three had just gone. The hallway quickly opened to a large family room, with doors to the patio located at the edge of the room. Veronica could see that the other three had already joined Jake out on the patio . Veronica stopped and looked up at Logan, quirking her eyebrows questioningly at him.

Logan let out a sigh. He obviously knew what she was wondering about. "Sorry. My natural tendency is to not let anyone who might pose a threat think they have any advantage over me."

Veronica smiled reassuringly at him. "I get it. I just wanted to make sure you're okay," she told him, not terribly surprised that after years of dealing with Aaron's abuse that he had developed that coping strategy.

"Peachy," Logan replied with a small smile. Veronica quirked her eyebrow again. He blew out a soft huff of air and took a step closer to her. "I'm honestly fine, Veronica. As long as we're in this together, I'm not going to let him—or anyone else—get to me. How about you?"

Veronica tipped up on her toes so she could place a quick kiss on Logan's cheek. "I'm better than peachy," she answered with a playful wink, earning a soft chuckle from Logan. "Let's go see how much more fun we can have with my future stepfather too."

As they walked out onto the patio, Veronica saw that Duncan, Astrid and Lilly were playing at what looked to be some sort of water and sand activity table. Jake was sitting near them at the outside dining table.

"Lemonade?" Logan asked, his cajoling tone back once again.

Jake immediately looked past them back at the doorway, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Oh, Mom had to take a call from your decorator," Veronica explained as she sat the glasses down on the table near Jake. It was obvious he wasn't thrilled to see just them and would have preferred her mom was there to make it less awkward.

 _Trust me buddy, this isn't my idea of a good time either._

"So, Veronica… Logan… Duncan mentioned he'd seen the two of you last night as well," Jake started, sounding as uncomfortable as he looked.

"Yeah, we all had dinner together," Logan answered with an obviously fake smile in place as he nodded at Jake.

"Beach?" Lilly asked loudly from where she'd been playing with Duncan and Astrid.

Astrid looked questioningly at Duncan, obviously waiting for him to answer his daughter.

"Do you two want to walk out to the beach with us?" Duncan asked, glancing in Logan and Veronica's direction.

"Um, I think we'll just wait for my mom," Veronica quickly answered, quickly looking at Logan who nodded in agreement.

"Go, Daddy," Lilly insisted as she grabbed Astrid's hand "Chase me an' Nonny."

"You sure?" Duncan tried one more time as he stood up from where he was sitting by the activity table. Astrid and Lilly had already started walking toward what looked like stairs down to the beach.

"Positive," Veronica quickly answered. "Have fun out there."

Duncan's shoulders slumped slightly, but he gave them all a friendly enough smile before turning and following the other two.

Veronica wondered if being alone with Jake was going to be even less fun than spending time with Duncan and Astrid would be, but then an idea came to her.

"You must be thrilled to have your son back," Veronica commented as she turned back to face Jake.

Jake smiled a bit uneasily, but still nodded in reply.

"I'd hate to see him get mixed up in anything questionable now that he's finally home and cleared of the kidnapping charges."

Jake's brow furrowed slightly, clearly not sure what Veronica was trying to imply, but concerned nonetheless.

"We saw him meeting with Gorya Sorokin yesterday," Veronica continued. "And we both know what sort of _trouble_ he can be."

Jake nervously glanced back toward the house, apparently to see if Lianne was coming out yet. _Evidently fianc_ _é_ _es must not get to learn about their future husband's secret societies and shady connections._

"If Sorokin is up to anything _unsavory_ , no one would want Duncan connected to that. Maybe there's something _you_ could do to make sure they _both_ behave themselves," Veronica continued, pausing to glance pointedly back toward the house. "If we're _all_ going to be one big happy family, we wouldn't want any undesirable secrets leaking out, now would we?"

Veronica could tell that Logan was trying to repress a smirk as she turned back from looking at the house to Jake, but he wasn't being terribly successful. Jake on the other hand didn't look terribly happy, a small scowl had formed on his face.

"No, we wouldn't want that," he grumbled reluctantly. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," Veronica replied, feeling satisfied and hopeful that Jake's involvement might help keep the pressure off of her and Logan. Of course there was no guarantee of that, but it certainly couldn't hurt the situation to have Jake keep his son and a member of the Castle in line.

"Sorry, about that," Lianne chirped as she stepped out onto the patio. "Gemma is trying to track down some wingback chairs for the study that we'd seen in a magazine and I had to get some additional information out of the article for her."

"No worries," Veronica said as she glanced at Jake again. "We were just talking with Jake about how wonderful it is that Duncan and Lilly are safely home again."

Jake smiled a bit apprehensively while he nodded in agreement.

Veronica turned back to look at her her mom again. A tightness formed in her chest when she realized Lianne was carrying a water bottle in her hand. Veronica had wondered if her mom was still drinking, but she hadn't wanted to ask. Now seeing her possibly up to her old tricks again, Veronica felt all her old anxiety start to overtake her.

She really had no idea how he knew, but somehow Logan must have been able to tell something was wrong.

"Did you want some lemonade," Logan asked with a calm, soothing tone while he reached over to gently stroke her forearm. The gesture was more than welcome and she gave him as normal of a smile as she could muster and nodded her head.

He briefly reached up to brush his fingers lightly over her hair before turning to grab one of the glasses Veronica had set down on the table.

"Here you go, honey," Lianne said cheerily to Jake as she handed the water bottle to him. "Where did the others disappear to?"

Veronica couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for her to stop immediately assuming the worst about her mom. Even if her mom was still having issues with alcohol, was it really her place now to care or judge her for it? It was a bit overwhelming to realize that she didn't really know how Lianne being back in her life was suppose to work. Veronica knew she couldn't just forget about her mom abandoning her, but she wasn't quite sure how to forgive her yet either.

"Duncan and Lilly went down to the beach with the nanny," Jake said in response to Lianne's question.

Knowing what she did now, based on Logan's comments, Jake's response was way more telling than she'd expected. Astrid was the _nanny_ to everyone else, and she apparently hadn't acted in any way around others that would make them think differently—other than the previous night in front of herself and Logan. _Because of course Duncan Kane wouldn't want to be caught sleeping with the help, now would he?_ Veronica couldn't help but wonder what Astrid really thought of the whole situation and how he'd justified his behavior to her. Although it wasn't like Astrid hadn't witnessed her own scene with Duncan and Celeste when she'd found out that Duncan hadn't told his mom that he was dating Veronica again. But at this point Veronica wasn't sure if she should feel sorry for Astrid or not. The cynical side of her almost thought that Astrid was getting what she deserved for seeing what the Kanes were like and still choosing this path.

"It's so nice to have such a private beach. Only other residences in this neighborhood can access it. There are actually security guards who patrol the entire neighborhood, including the beach, ensuring no trespassing by any undesirable individuals," Lianne shared, coming across much more arrogant than Veronica imaged she'd intended. Although Veronica hadn't seen her mom in so many years that maybe Lianne frequently acted condescending now. Lianne never would have behaved that way back when Veronica was younger, but maybe that was the act, and the real Lianne, the prom queen version, would have been this pretentious.

"After everything that's happened to my loved ones in the past, I wanted to be sure we would all feel safe here," Jake added, reaching over and squeezing Lianne's hand as he gave her a poignant look.

Those same thoughts from before about how things could have been different if Jake and Lianne had made different choices years ago came rushing back to Veronica again.

"Maybe we should check out that private beach for a few minutes after all?" Logan asked a bit unexpectedly, compassion and understanding lacing not only his tone but the way he was looking at her as well. He must have been able to tell something was still bothering her.

Veronica nodded and sat her glass of lemonade back down on the table.

"We'll be back in a little while," Logan politely informed Jake and Lianne and wrapped his arm around Veronica's shoulders, saving her from more than just awkward time with her mom and future stepfather.


	10. Chapter 10

_**I finally made it back to work on this one. Part of me actually wants to end it with this chapter, but I don't want people to feel like I left too much unresolved. I'm considering either just ending it here, or doing a brief epilogue or possibly coming back to them at a later time and doing some more with this version of them. I'm thinking I'll see what sort of comments I get and then make the final decision. So here's your chance to let me know what you want. Of course keep in mind if I say it's done, then it gives me time to work on other things! I do have a WIP I've started and not shared any of it yet because I didn't want to have too many WIPs posted again. So there's that to take into account as well. Thanks to everyone still reading along and as always thanks to Bondopoulos for all her help and support.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.**_

As Logan and Veronica made their way down the stairs, Veronica spotted Duncan, Lilly and Astrid a little farther down the beach. Their backs were to Logan and Veronica as the three walked barefoot along the edge of the surf, both adults holding on to Lilly's hands. Lilly's laughter drifted through the air as Duncan and Astrid lifted her up right before the foamy white waves could hit her feet. To a stranger observing them, they would appear to be nothing less than a happy young family.

"You okay?" Logan asked, stopping their descent to the beach. She could hear the same compassion and understanding lacing his tone that he'd had a few minutes ago when they were on the patio with Jake and Lianne.

Veronica nodded and turned her face up at him. "Thank you," she said softly, a hint of amazement in her one. "I have no idea how you could tell what I was actually feeling back there, but I'm so thankful that you effortlessly pulled me away."

"Well, you're not _always_ easy to read," Logan replied, huffing out a soft laugh as he pulled her closer to his chest and paused to place a tender kiss on her forehead. "I think I'm probably off the mark eighty percent of the time, but I'll happily take the twenty percent that I'm right."

"Don't sell yourself short, sweetcheeks," Veronica teased with a coy smile. "I'd give you at least twenty-six-and-a-half percent right."

Logan shook his head as the corner of his mouth turned up in amusement. "Gee _thanks_ ," he volleyed back jokingly before his expression turned serious. "I will say I certainly didn't expect you to subtly threaten Jake the way that you did back there, but maybe that will help keep Duncan in line and we won't have to watch our backs as much."

Veronica blew out a slow breath, nodding as she did. She could sense the hopeful optimism in Logan's tone. "Hopefully—I thought it couldn't hurt anyway. Although, being us, I'm sure we won't _completely_ let our guard down, but it would be nice if Jake intervened a little bit."

"And I _so_ enjoyed Duncan's expression when he and your mom thought we were living together," Logan continued, his eyes lighting up with mischief.

"Yeah, that's been one of the highlights of this little visit for me too," Veronica agreed, her expression mirroring his.

"Of course you know I really wish that it _was_ true," Logan confessed, a wistful look replacing the mischievous one.

Veronica sighed deeply, biting momentarily on her bottom lip. "I'm sure I'll be there plenty, but _moving in together_? We've barely just gotten back together, don't you think that's a pretty big leap?"

Instead of the rejected or hurt expression Veronica had expected to see on Logan's face, a tender smile appeared instead. "Yeah, I know. And I'd never try to rush you into something you're not ready for. But you really ought to know by now," he told her, a sly grin on his lips. "... _all I want is you_." She huffed out a soft laugh, remembering him saying that to her the year before. He reached up and gently traced his fingertips across her forehead before he continued. "And I'm more than happy to wait for you to be ready for that kind of commitment," he paused and let out a little sigh. "Even though I'd rather wake up every morning with you next to me."

"Even if I keep you tied to the bedpost?" she asked, suddenly feeling the need to lighten the tone of their conversation.

" _Especially_ if I'm tied to the bedpost," Logan replied, a wolfish grin appearing on his lips before he leaned in and captured her mouth with his. She still had no idea how kissing him seemed to wipe away all the anxiety she'd just been feeling, and she certainly wasn't going to stop to analyze why.

Unfortunately Their kiss was interrupted much too soon by the sound of someone clearing their throat. They'd been so wrapped up in their own conversation and kissing that neither of them had noticed that Duncan, Astrid and Lilly had turned and headed back up toward the house.

"We um…" Duncan muttered, sounding a bit uncomfortable interrupting the two of them. "Lilly was starting to get hungry so we were headed back to get her a snack."

"Gol-fishies!" Lilly exclaimed loudly, a beaming smile stretched across her sun-kissed face.

"Yes, goldfish crackers, Lilly," Duncan answered, nodding down at her.

"You like gol-fishies?" Lilly asked, looking up expectantly at Veronica and Logan.

"I can't say that I've ever tried those, kiddo," Logan answered, sounding amused by her question. "Veronica?" he continued looking at her as if he assumed she had. Of course he'd think that since he always teased her about her unusual eating habits.

Veronica rolled her eyes slightly at him. " _Yes_ , I've had goldfish crackers before and they're pretty yummy. Wallace's little brother is a big fan, so I've had them when I've been at their house a few times."

"Mm-hmm," Logan replied, with a teasing grin on his lips. "I'll be sure to pick up some to keep on hand at the new place," he added with a little wink.

"Let's go, Daddy," Lilly interjected, pulling on Duncan's hand again as she moved to pass Logan and Veronica on the stairs back up to the house.

"We'll meet you up there in a couple minutes," Veronica announced, not quite ready to deal with all of them—her soon to be new extended family—just yet. Logan followed her lead and they both scooted to the side of the stairs so the others could continue up to the house.

"Did you want to walk on the beach?" Logan asked a few seconds later.

Veronica gave him a grateful smile and nodded as she held out her hand for his.

* * *

After a short stroll on the beach, Logan and Veronica headed back to the house. Logan had distracted her a bit on their walk discussing what other furniture items they should prioritize in addition to a four poster bed. When they made it back to the patio, Lianne and Jake were both sitting at the table while Duncan and Astrid were sitting side by side on the edge of a lounge chair. Lilly was sitting on Duncan's lap and Astrid was holding a bowl of goldfish crackers and a juice box.

"I'm surprised that you haven't turned into a little goldfish yourself," Duncan teased as Lilly shoved a handful of the little orange crackers into her mouth.

"She'd make an _adorable_ goldfish," Astrid countered as she lovingly smiled at the little girl. "She's already becoming quite the little swimmer too."

Veronica had thought Astrid had seemed rather fond of Lilly from the little bit of time she'd already seen them interacting, and it was certainly undeniable now just how much Astrid did adore the little girl. She seemed so _motherly_. While Veronica had enjoyed her time the night before with Lilly, being a full-time mother was definitely something she wasn't ready for at this point in her life.

"Me gol-fishy, " Lilly proudly announced. "Daddy and Nonny fishies too," she added reaching up to pat them both on their cheeks.

Veronica caught just the hint of a more meaningful smile form on Astrid lips as she locked eyes with Duncan for a few seconds. While she may have missed the signs the night before, it was obvious now to her that Astrid also adored Duncan probably as much as she adored Lilly. Of course Veronica had totally missed it the night before because she let her jealousy about what may have happened between Logan and Astrid cloud her judgment. And for the briefest of a second, she could have sworn she saw something flash across Duncan's face too.

"You know the four of us should plan a double date some night," Veronica announced jubilantly as she smiled at Duncan and Astrid, completely aware that her impulsive suggestion could go totally awry. "I'm sure my mom and Jake would be happy to babysit Lilly so we could all go."

Veronica tried not to laugh at the deer in the headlights look that immediately formed on Duncan's face. He really hadn't been very good at hiding things in the past when called directly on something. Astrid looked almost as surprised, but recovered quickly with an innocent look of confusion instead.

"We're _not_..." Duncan started nervously, causing Astrid to tighten her jaw slightly.

"Oh," Veronica continued with her own act of innocence and confusion. "I thought with the way you two were acting last night that you were."

"We'd be happy to watch Lilly sometime," Lianne interjected, either oblivious to Duncan's sudden discomfort or just not actually caring.

"You two are seeing each other?" Jake asked at almost the same moment as Lianne spoke, clearly sounding a little less than thrilled about Duncan possibly fraternizing with the _help_.

"Well I certainly got that impression last night, but I guess I was mistaken," Veronica responded, trying to sound as naive as possible. "And usually I'm _so_ good at picking up on things." She glanced at Logan, really hoping that he wasn't going to do something that would make it seem obvious she was completely bullshitting them all. She noticed the corner of his lip as well as one eyebrow was lifted up just the slightest amount, apparently amused by the situation, but not overtly giving her away at least.

"Well I think they'd make an adorable pair," Lianne commented, obviously not sharing her future husband's opinion on the matter.

"They would, wouldn't they?" Logan chimed in, a smug grin forming on his face.

"Speaking of going out… Logan and I should probably be leaving soon so we can make our dinner reservations," Veronica quickly segued to.

"Oh, I was hoping you'd have time for a full tour of the house before you had to go," Lianne responded, looking disappointed that they were leaving so soon.

"Well…" Veronica started, ensuring that she sounded reluctant to at least sell their ruse. "Do you think we have time for a quick tour?" she asked Logan. "We might get some additional decorating ideas," she added, quirking her brow the slightest amount so hopefully he'd know that she was okay with staying just a little bit longer.

"I think we could stay a little longer and still be okay," he replied, leaning in to softly chuckle against her skin as he kissed her temple.

* * *

"So what do you think?" Lianne asked excitedly as they finally walked into the room she'd picked to be Veronica's. Only about half of the house that they'd already been through had been fully decorated and furnished, and this room was still completely empty. Her mom hadn't lied when she'd told her on the phone that it had a spectacular view.

"It's nice," Veronica said, keeping her fingers intertwined with Logan's as she pulled him over to the windows. "But I was thinking, between Logan's and Dad's, I probably wouldn't be staying here often, so maybe you should decorate it for Lilly to use when she comes to visit you."

"Oh," Lianne replied, biting her lip slightly in an obvious attempt to hide her disappointment.

Veronica knew Lianne was really trying, and while she had no intention of actually spending a lot of time there—especially not overnight, Veronica felt like she should try to make an effort too.

"Maybe I could still help you decorate it," Veronica offered tentatively. "We could look through some books together, with Lilly too, and then have your decorator put it together for her." Veronica glanced up at Logan who gave her an encouraging smile and nodded.

"Yeah, that could be fun too," Lianne agreed, her mood slowly bouncing back. "I'm sure we'll have her and Duncan over quite often. Jake and I had talked about designating a room for Duncan, but we hadn't discussed it with him yet."

 _And I definitely won't be staying over any night he is._

"I'd love to come and see the house Logan bought. Have you started moving in already?" Lianne asked as she walked over to where they were standing by the windows.

"Not yet, but hopefully I'll get the keys to it on Monday," Logan answered, the excitement from earlier slipping back into his tone again.

"We'll see about inviting you over sometime when Logan's all settled in," Veronica offered, not really sure that they actually would want to invite her mom and Jake over, but figuring it was probably safe enough to say for now.

"Well, I'll be sure to text you Gemma's number if you want to contact her at all. She's really just amazing."

"Thanks, Mom." Veronica paused for a moment and gave Logan a tight smile. "It was great to see your new house, but Logan and I really should be going so we can make our dinner reservation."

Logan nodded in agreement, smiling knowingly back at Veronica.

"Oh of course," Lianne replied, sounding a tiny bit flustered. "I really do appreciate you two finding the time to stop by today. Hopefully we can schedule a time to all have dinner together. I'd love to hear more about Hearst and all the classes you're taking."

"Sure," Veronica replied dropping Logan's hand to give her mom a quick hug. She still wasn't sure how things would work out with her mom back in Neptune and in her life again, but Lianne really did seem to be trying to take the first step in repairing their very damaged relationship and maybe Veronica owed it to herself to try too.

"Thanks again. And please let the others all know we said goodbye," Veronica added before grabbing Logan's hand and making a hasty retreat for the front door.

The moment they had walked out of the room, Lianne's cell rang again and Veronica heard her mom jubilantly greeting Gemma as they made their way to the stairway. Veronica was hoping they'd be able to make it out of the house without running into anyone, but she abruptly stopped short outside the door located right before the foyer that Lianne had pointed out on their tour of the house as being Jake's office. She immediately spun back and looked over her shoulder to see if Lianne had followed them down, simultaneously putting her finger to her lip to be sure Logan wouldn't make a sound. He quirked an eyebrow at her questioningly but, as she'd hoped, didn't say anything. Jake saying Duncan's name from inside the office was what had lead her to come to a screeching halt her curiosity getting the better of her.

The door had been pulled almost shut, but whoever was the last one in hadn't bothered to close it all the way or it just didn't latch correctly. She scooted close enough to listen, pointing at her eyes, then Logan and then the stairs, hoping he'd get her silent instruction. He smirked and nodded, turning so he could watch for Lianne coming down behind them.

"Gorya sent the recording that he took of you last night to me," Veronica heard Jake saying from within the office. "I talked with a couple of the other senior members, and with your confession added to the archive, they were all on board with letting you join even though you aren't technically enrolled at Hearst yet."

Veronica heard Duncan mumble something that sounded like appreciation or understanding before Jake started talking again.

"Now that that's taken care of and Gorya's back in LA, I hope you'll be wise enough to only have very limited contact with him. He's upset a few members in the organization with some of his less than astute decisions lately, and I wouldn't want you to get mixed up with anything that could jeopardize our agreement with the FBI. The organization has overlooked some of Gorya's questionable actions in the past, but several of the senior members are getting close to reaching their limit where he's concerned. I'm already calling in several favors to make this happen—both with the FBI and within the organization—so I hope I can count on you to be smart about your actions now that you're back."

Duncan's affirmation that he wasn't planning on doing anything that would cause any issues for him and Lilly was all Veronica needed to hear before she grabbed Logan's hand and stealthily continued on through the foyer and out the front door.

Logan wasn't sure what had been more of a turn on, Veronica threatening Jake, exposing Duncan's affair with Astrid, or her sleuthing in the hallway. He certainly hadn't expected their visit to Jake and Lianne's to include any of that. Of course there were also those few moments when he could tell that she was struggling to keep her composure as well. He'd been thankful for the chance to whisk her away when she seemed to freeze on the patio when Jake had alluded to Lilly's death. Given the state Veronica had been in when he'd run into her the prior weekend was all directly related to Jake and Lianne's affair and Lilly's death, he wasn't surprised that she had gotten upset by Jake's comments. Even if she was one of the most badass women that he knew, there was still that fragile part of her that he couldn't help but want to protect.

As he opened the passenger door of his Rover for her, he was glad to see a relaxed smile on her face when she turned to look up at him.

"Could you hear them too?" she asked, raising her eyebrows inquisitively at him.

Of course her mind would still be on the conversation they'd just overheard. He nodded in reply. It had been a little hard to make out what Duncan had said, but Logan thought he'd gotten the gist of it. He really hoped it meant that they didn't need to worry about Duncan conspiring with Gory to make things difficult for them. If Gory was already on thin ice with the Castle, and Veronica had already threatened to make his life difficult if Gory did anything to Logan previously, chances were good that he wouldn't initiate something now. Threats from Veronica Mars typically weren't something anyone wise would just ignore.

"Thanks for being my look out," Veronica added, coyness not only in her tone, but in the adorable way she tilted her head and smiled at him too.

" _Anytime_ ," Logan replied, leaning in to place a quick peck on her lips. He hoped she'd take him seriously and ask for his help not only when they were sneaking through her mom and Jake's new house together but when she was working on cases as well. He'd always felt better on those rare occasions that she'd let him tag along in the past.

He lifted her up into the seat—eliciting a small squeal of surprise from her—and angled her so he could effortlessly fit between her legs. He pressed his lips to hers, deepening the kiss as he felt her ardently react to it. His thoughts were still a bit preoccupied by just how amazing she had been inside and he easily got caught up in the kiss.

"Thanks," she breathed out when the kiss finally ended. He quirked his eyebrow at her, wondering exactly what he was being thanked for. Even though it had been an amazing kiss, he was pretty sure that wasn't what she was referring to, but he was suddenly having a hard time focusing on anything other than the feel of her lips against his. She must have been able to correctly interpret his look of confusion. "Thanks for being there for me for _that_ ," she continued gesturing with her head back toward the house. "Hopefully it wasn't so abhorrent that you refuse to ever come with me again."

"I'll always _come_ with you," Logan countered, not even trying to keep the lasciviousness out of his tone.

Veronica let out a surprised laugh and nodded as she reached up and pulled his head back down toward hers. "Always better _with_ ," she told him sounding even more breathless than when they'd stopped kissing.

It took a lot of restraint, but Logan finally pulled away after kissing her for a minute or two, resting his forehead against hers and sucking in a deep breath. "We um... we should probably go... didn't you want to shower and change before we go out on our big date?"

"Mmm... _shower_... yes, definitely," she purred, smiling demurely up at him.

He chuckled huskily before leaning in to place one more quick kiss on her lips and then tore himself away to drive them back to the Grand.

* * *

Logan was thankful that Mama Leone's stayed open late on Saturdays. By the time they'd finally made it out of the shower, dressed and headed to the restaurant, it had been much later than he'd expected. He'd made a mental note to check out the capacity on the water heater at the new house to see how much it might be to replace it with a larger one if possible. He'd heard enough of Veronica complaining about the water heater at her apartment to know how much she hated running out of hot water, and the more time he could spend in the shower with her the better.

The late hour combined with the fact they were the last two in the restaurant, had lead them to take pity on the waitress; they offered to just take their dessert to go. Even though the waitress had assured them it wasn't a problem, Logan could still tell she was grateful when they said they'd take dessert with them.

He'd always considered himself to be the more demonstrative out of the two of them, so he was a little surprised—but in a very pleased way—by how affectionate Veronica had been not only on the drive back to the hotel, but at dinner as well. Fortunately she'd never been shy about having her hands all over him when they were alone, but out in public she'd been more reserved in the past. He'd always worried that it was due to her reservations about them being together, and hoped—though cautiously so—that maybe things really would be different this time.

By the time they'd made it all the way back to the suite, her look of affection had morphed into something much more ravenous.

"Did you want dessert now?" he teasingly asked as he closed the door to the suite and held up the to-go bag.

"Not for _that_ kind of dessert," she answered with a salacious grin, reaching out and pulling him toward the bedroom.

Logan tugged her slightly so she spun back to him, pressing his lips to hers when she was close enough. "I'd better put this in the fridge so we can have it later," he shared a bit breathlessly. As much as he'd rather just sweep her off her feet and head for his bed, he was pretty sure she'd be a bit disappointed later if the tiramisu got ruined.

"Good idea," she agreed with a quick kiss before turning back toward the bedroom. "Don't be long," she purred with a suggestive glance in his direction before disappearing into his room.

Logan suddenly wished the fridge was right by the door, but did his best to acquiesce to her command. She'd already stripped down to her bra and panties, lying on her side on the bed waiting for him by the time he made it into the room. He quickly pulled off his own shirt as he closed the door. Even though Dick had moved out, he still had a room key and Logan knew Veronica would be furious if he stumbled into the suite and caught them in an intimate position. He stepped out of his jeans and crawled across the mattress to join her.

Logan could still taste the cinnamon on her lips from the candy that the waitress had left with the bill. He was just about to undo the hook on her bra when the ring of her cellphone echoed through the room. She gave him an apologetic look as he rolled on to his back so she could retrieve it. Given it was nearly eleven thirty, it seemed logical that it was an urgent—not able to wait for morning—type of call.

She reached across him, grabbing her phone from where she'd sat it on the nightstand. He'd expected her to shift back to the other side of the bed, or to take it into the bathroom for privacy, but instead she'd remained with her chest on top of his as she answered the call.

"How's the man hunt going? Burning the midnight oil on this one arentcha?" she teased, sounding much more relaxed than he'd expected her to be given their current position and level of nakedness. And since she was basically stretched across his chest, Logan could easily hear Keith's reply come through the phone.

"I'd correct that to a _daughter-and-dog_ hunt since neither are where I expected them to be," Keith answered back tersely, not sounding terribly amused with Veronica's greeting. "Although I suppose that's a little less upsetting than the earlier call from your mother where she mentioned how excited she was that you and Logan were buying a house together." Suddenly the clip in his tone made a lot more sense.

Veronica grimaced slightly before replying. "I think she misinterpreted things," she offered, her tone not quite as light-hearted as when she'd answered the phone, but still maintaining a small amount of joviality.

"Mm hmm," Keith replied, again not sounding very happy with her response. "And where are you now?"

"At Logan's," she told him, starting to bite nervously on her lower lip. Her gaze had mostly been focused on the bed next to them, but she glanced out of corner of her eye at Logan as she answered.

"And Backup?"

"He's at Wallace's."

Logan heard a loud frustrated sigh come through the phone.

"Sounds like we have a _lot_ of catching up to do. I'm assuming you'll be home soon given the time?"

Veronica turned her head so she could see Logan better. He'd hoped that Keith would be out of town longer so he'd have more uninterrupted time with her, but he wasn't foolish enough to think that would last forever. He gave her an understanding smile, trying his best to hide the disappointment that he wouldn't get to wake up next to her again the next morning.

"No, I'm staying here tonight," she answered, her lips curling up into a defiant grin.

Logan was sure the look on his face had to be one of shock at first, but then the warmth radiating from his heart made its way to his lips and he smiled lovingly back at her.

"Maybe we can meet for lunch tomorrow and you can tell Logan and I all about catching the bad guy," she continued unwaveringly. Logan heard another heavy sigh come through the phone.

"I'll call Alicia in the morning to arrange picking up Backup. You may just need to buy _both_ of us lunch if he was bad," Keith answered begrudgingly.

"Sounds good, Pops."

After a very brief exchange of quick farewells, Veronica ended the call.

Logan was pretty sure the look on his face had to be one of complete and utter amazement. If he'd had any sliver of doubt left at how much Veronica really did love him, it was completely gone now. Having her chose him over Duncan had meant the world to him, but now hearing her chose him regardless of what her dad might think left him utterly speechless.

"Now where were we?" she whispered sensually as she tossed her phone back on the nightstand.

Logan sucked in a deep breath and quickly found his voice again. "Right where we're always meant to be," he replied, moving his hands to cradle her face. "I love you, Veronica Mars. So very much."

"And I love you too," she replied, the sultry look giving away to one of adoration before she pressed her lips to his.


End file.
